Columbia City Council approves funding for vaccination education campaign
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Health leaders in Columbia and Boone County are continuing efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic on a local level. The Columbia/Boone County Health Department and city leaders are looking at ways to educate people on the importance of getting vaccinated to fight the virus.
Monday night the Columbia City Council voted to approve a vaccination education campaign.
The city will pay Bucket Media, Inc. $200,728 for the campaign.
According to an invoice from the advertising agency, the money will go toward campaigning using several platforms, including social media, radio, print and more.
Sara Humm, community relations specialist with Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services said the goal of the campaign is to inform the public on what they need to know about the vaccine once it becomes available.
"We want to make sure that whenever the vaccination is ready to start going to the general public that we're ready and that we have media pieces. So that's video, graphics, ads, things like that that we're ready to go, and making sure that our residents know how and when they can get the vaccination," Humm said.
She said the health department wants to ensure the campaign is targeting people who may need to be reassured about getting a vaccination or maybe more at risk of getting Coronavirus.
"I think one of the struggles definitely will be making sure we're hitting all of those very specific pockets of the community where they may have issues with access to transportation or things like that where there may need to be some special circumstances of figuring out how to vaccinate everyone," Humm said.
She said the city and Bucket Media, Inc. are still working to develop the campaign and identify any parts of the population it may miss.
Columbia Mayor Brian Treece said the city would like to get ahead of any hesitancy about getting the vaccine. He also said leaders want to normalize getting the vaccine that did not even exist one year ago.
"We want the COVID vaccine to be as routine as getting a flu shot every year and as easy as getting a flu shot every year by going to a grocery store, a pharmacist, your own doctor, and making sure people are aware of the choices that are available," Treece said.
