The Virginia Department of Health spent $1.7 million in March and April on ads promoting vaccinations and public health measures, according to April 21st data from the department.
“Advertising will continue to increase to help Virginians understand how to schedule an appointment and to encourage those who have not yet scheduled their shot,” Brookie Crawford, a spokesperson for the department ,wrote in an email.
In March the entire month’s spend was $531,509. Slightly more than half, $277,113, was spent on the Vaccinate Virginia campaign launch, and the rest on a statewide COVID-19 campaign with vaccination messaging.
In April VDH spent $678,030 as of April 21st, a marked increase from March. The department spent $402,016 on the Virginia Vaccinate campaign, and also spent $131,421 targeting young adults.
June West, a professor at University of Virginia’s business school said the first focus of any campaign is the message, and the second is the audience.
“There are a lot of people in America and a campaign must tailor its message to the particular And then that brings us to the third component, which is: What's your message? And how are you going to frame the narrative? How can the campaign really meet the needs of the community?”
VDH also spent $500,000 on “specific minority outreach communications,” according to the department.
OtherVDH video content has directly addressed concerns of communities, such as unequal access to healthcare and racist US government medical experiments, by having Black doctors discuss the vaccine.
“This is a really important component. It has to be people with trust. It has to be trusted advisors,” West said.
Black and Latino Virginians have been disproporationately affected by COVID-19 and been more likely to get seriously ill. Access to Spanish language information has been brought under scrutiny. VDH spent just under $90,000 on Spanish language television and radio ads.
West says another thing to be on the look out for is companies with their own vaccination campaigns. They have a stake in more vaccinations, because it means you can visit their businesses.
***Editor's Note: The Virginia Department of Health is a financial supporter of Radio IQ.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
