Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
According to the Washington Department of Health (WDOH), the African-Americans in Washington State represent 4% of the total population, yet in 2021, they represented 5% of the total coronavirus cases and 4% of total deaths in the state. With approximately 34% of unvaccinated African-Americans above the age of 18, the WDOH sought out strategies to address the motivation for these individuals to remain unvaccinated. Communications agency C+C leveraged The Anchor Group’s local influence to drive a campaign that centered on encouraging those who are not vaccinated to re-evaluate their decision for the love of family, friends, and community.
C+C Collaboration
Anchor worked alongside C+C to create a plan of action for addressing and engaging with the African-American community. This first required understanding what common issues prevent individuals from choosing the vaccine, and focus groups were established to gather feedback on what motivated individuals to avoid vaccination. A total of 19 vetted individuals participated. With further insight on where to concentrate efforts, both teams prepared a proposal for WDOH that outlined a plan to direct the Here For Us campaign.
Real People. Real Stories.
The highlight of the campaign was to feature stories from individuals who had been hesitant to get vaccinated and the reasons why they ultimately chose to do so. Anchor vetted local community members of backgrounds ranging from school board officials to university students and partnered with C+C to create video/audio clips for use on social media and the Here For Us campaign website. Both teams also prepared a WDOH spokesperson, who had her own story of vaccine hesitancy to share, for interviews with local media professionals. A total of seven stories were shared across media outlets in the state, and the campaign was highlighted by several regional churches from the United Black Clergy.
Results
