Background and Objective:
To raise awareness of the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and to boost the vaccination rates in Armenia, the Turpanjian College of Health Sciences of the American University of Armenia (AUA/CHS) launched an awareness-raising campaign in 2021, employing various communication channels. To understand whether the campaign reached its audience, we assessed the level of exposure to the campaign materials in June-July 2022.

Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey among 312 adult participants from the capital Yerevan and other regions of Armenia. The exposure to communication materials in the past 12 months was assessed at the levels of aided and confirmed recall. The overall level of exposure and the distribution of exposure across socio-demographic categories were explored in descriptive and bivariate analysis.

Results:
The mean age of participants was 47.73. Females constituted 57% of the sample. About 37% of the study sample was exposed to at least one of the COVID-19 vaccination-related communication materials produced by the AUA/CHS. The vast proportion (75.2%) of those who were exposed to any messages about COVID-19 vaccination in Armenia (n=149) were exposed to at least one of the AUA/CHS-produced materials. About 26% of participants reported exposure to any of the five TV spots and 18.21% to any of the three billboards/posters. The TV spots and billboards/posters were the most commonly recalled conduits of communication. A significantly higher proportion of 18-64-years old participants was exposed to communication materials compared with the older respondents (42.11% vs. 21.62, p=0.002).

Conclusion:
The study findings showed that AUA/CHS campaign was well-represented in the awareness-raising efforts in the Armenian media, reaching mostly the younger and middle-aged audience. Given the higher rates of exposure to TV spots and billboards/posters, these communication means should be further utilized for awareness-raising efforts in the country.