"It’s Worth a Shot:" GMA Spearheads Vaccine Awareness

GMA’s “It’s Worth a Shot” public information campaign was designed to provide all of Georgia’s cities with resources to educate residents about the COVID-19 vaccine. This campaign was launched to contribute to Gov. Brian Kemp’s and the Georgia Department of Health’s goal to vaccinate as many Georgians as possible during spring and early summer 2021.

 Phase one of the campaign was all about preparing accurate messaging. “We hosted several focus groups with elected officials across the state and their constituents to ensure we were crafting messaging that spoke to [versus at] all Georgians,” said GMA Director of Communications Kelli Bennett. “We developed simple, yet memorable campaign imagery, talking points in English and Spanish and built a comprehensive social media guide.

Phase one also included our rollout to GMA’s membership.

Phase two was dedicated to leveraging media attention statewide and sharing the importance of the vaccines in more traditional ways. “During this phase we hosted an expert-led media training, drafted press release, editorial and PSA (in English and Spanish) templates and provided clear ways to engage with media entities of all sizes,” Bennett said.

As an association, GMA also hosted a press conference featuring Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey and four elected officials who all had their own personal COVID-19 stories to share, including Hawkinsville Commissioner Shelly Berryhill who was the first confirmed case in his county and nearly passed away from the virus. They were also joined by GMA Director Larry Hanson; Union City Mayor Vince Williams, GMA President; and LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton, GMA First Vice President.

This press conference garnered media coverage from top news outlets, including Fox 5, 11 Alive, WSB, WSB Radio, CBS 46 and WABE.

The GMA team dubbed phase three, “Reach Everyone” and worked to identify the top 10 counties with the lowest vaccination rates. From there, GMA identified over 50 cities and made direct phone calls to those mayors and/or city managers.

“After talking with these city leaders, we published a second set of talking points that directly address vaccines and pregnancy, vaccine hesitant teens and parents, and the need for community vaccine awareness efforts,” said Amanda Coyne, GMA communications associate.

Phase three of the “It’s Worth a Shot” campaign also include the “Teens & Vaccines Challenge,” which launched June 1 as a way for teens to creatively spread the importance of getting the vaccine to their communities.

Cities Lead in Vaccine Awareness

Georgia’s city leaders activated their influence each day to create communities of immunity by encouraging their residents to get vaccinated and to help their neighbors who are running into access issues. Because of these examples, GMA titled a portion of the “It’s Worth a Shot” campaign, “Cities Lead,” which highlights city officials leading by example. Some of these examples include:

• The city of Bogart tailored their outdoor city hall sign to raise vaccine awareness.
• In addition to using the “It’s Worth a Shot” campaign assets, the city of Cedartown partnered with the city of Rockmart, Polk County and Floyd Medical Center to hold a vaccine clinic at Polk Medical Center campus.
• The city of Cairo printed more than 4,300 “It’s Worth a Shot” PSAs in English and Spanish and distributed them throughout the schools for students to share with their parents.
• Leaders in the city of Smyrna created their own vaccine awareness campaign titled, “Give it a Shot Smyrna.” The city also hosted mobile vaccine opportunities and utilized their fire department to distribute more than 1,000 vaccines.
• The cities of Doraville and Dunwoody partnered with the Latino Community Fund and We Love BuHi to offer vaccine clinics for non-English-speaking residents. The Doraville City Council also authorized
• $26,000 in vaccine-related outreach to Spanish-speaking residents while the city of Dunwoody documented (via a behind-the-scenes video) Mayor Lynn Deutsch getting her vaccine to encourage the community.
• City leaders and staff in Brunswick were featured in an official newsletter getting their vaccines and over 100 employees and their families received their shots at a city-sponsored event.
• The city of Acworth activated a COVID-19 vaccine information page on the city website, produced weekly awareness events for social media and weekly emails.
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  Among the city of Dublin’s vaccine awareness efforts was an onsite vaccine day for city employees and their families.
• The city of Vidalia offered paid time off for city staff to receive their vaccines and partnered with East Georgia Healthcare at a local community center to host several vaccine clinics. City leaders also assisted by doing outreach including email, website, radio and an announcement at city council meetings with the media in attendance.
• The city of Valdosta engaged the local media to share more about their efforts to encourage city-wide vaccinations and their involvement in GMA’s “It’s Worth a Shot” campaign.
• The city of Commerce also instituted a health rewards program, which allowed staff to earn points for getting vaccinated.
• The city of Moultrie’s community outreach event in March safely hosted local doctors who were trusted by the city’s minority population.
• The city of Decatur’s COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive Program for city staff offered extra vacation time, automatic entry into a gift card raffle and health credit for the city’s voluntary wellness program. In addition to the incentives, the city of Decatur also provided educational materials to all city employees about the COVID-19 vaccine.
• The Decatur City Commission also hosted employee appreciation events to share more about their personal vaccine experiences and the importance of the vaccine to the city of Decatur.
• The city of Rome hosted a virtual town hall in Spanish with trusted doctors and healthcare professionals to reach the city’s Hispanic population.
• Officials in the city of Austell are leading by example in sharing their vaccines on social media.
• The city of Fort Valley hosted vaccine drives right in its city hall and in local churches.
• To further support vaccination effort in Gainesville-Hall County, the city of Gainesville offered discounted WeGo rides through June for those traveling to get the vaccine at applicable clinics in or near Gainesville city limits.
• LaGrange officials wrote editorials for local newspapers; coordinated social media posts between city, public health and medial sites; made telephone calls to community leaders and pastors; and hosted virtual town halls with local physicians.
• The consolidated government of Augusta, hosted more than a dozen vaccination events including a partnership with the EMS Zone Provider Gold Cross and elected officials, as well as on-site vaccinations in partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health at the city’s municipal building. Augusta city officials also lead by example through public vaccinations and sharing on social media.
• The city of East Point was very intentional about partnering with community organizations to serve their residents by making vaccines available at local community centers and churches. The city also provided COVID-19 Lunch Bags for Kids, which included PPE, nonperishable snacks, hand sanitizer, antibacterial hand wipes, tissues and a travel first aid kit, and hosted a White Flag Ceremony to honor those residents and loved ones who passed away from the coronavirus.

This article was originally featured in the July/August 2021 edition of Georgia’s Cities Magazine.