Health
Pritzker Launches $10M Campaign to Tackle Vaccine Hesitancy
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces a $10 million public awareness campaign to combat vaccine hesitancy. (Credit: Governor's Press Office)
While doses of three approved COVID-19 vaccines are still in short supply, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday launched a $10 million public awareness campaign designed to encourage Black and Latino Illinoisans to get inoculated as soon as possible.
“Vaccine hesitancy is real, and misinformation is rampant, especially on social media,” Pritzker said, emphasizing that all three of the approved vaccines were 100% effective in trials for stopping hospitalizations and death.
The campaign — which will be paid for by the federal government — will include messages in English and Spanish on television, social media and radio as well as on billboards, bus shelters and newspapers and magazines, Pritzker said.
The state’s supply of vaccine is expected to expand significantly in the coming weeks, which Pritzker said was “a relief.”
“It is only a matter of time until supply exceeds demand,” Pritzker said.
Illinois set a new record on Thursday by administering 131,882 doses, a significant bump from the seven-day rolling average of 83,115 doses administered per day.
The messages will be targeted toward communities with lower vaccination rates where residents are more likely to contract severe COVID-19, officials said.
Despite the increase in vaccinations and a record-low case positivity rate of 2.2%, Pritzker said he would not deviate from the restrictions now in place designed to stop the spread of COVID-19, especially as more transmissible variants continue to spread in Illinois.
“This virus does not seem to have a schedule,” Pritzker said. “Those variants could spike the numbers up pretty quickly.”
The Illinois Senate’s Tourism and Hospitality Committee has held two hearings in recent weeks that featured representatives from the state’s convention and hotel industry along side organized labor leaders calling for restrictions to be loosened on large gatherings.
“We're going to try to make sure we're moving the economy forward as we're bringing down the caseload,” Pritzker said.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
