This year, the Manitoba government is not running an advertising campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. However, he spent nearly $ 250,000 on promoting his 2022 budget.
Opposition parties criticized the more than two -week ad campaign on Winnipeg billboards, social media, radio and mailboxes. They consider this to be done at the expense of the vaccination campaign.
Manitoba has conducted campaigns to promote the vaccine in the past, but these efforts have stopped so far.
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Health Minister Audrey Gordon dismissed a question suggesting that Manitoba could do more to encourage Manitobans still reluctant to be vaccinated.
I don’t agree that the province doesn’t do more. We are really doing a lot to get this message across.said Ms. Gordon.
I myself was vaccinated in public for my third dose, he added. We also have ongoing social media campaigns and our messages on bus stop benches are still there.
She also said her doctor, who was seen last week, checked her vaccination status. Our doctors do this, as well as our pharmacists.
The messages on billboards and banks referred to by the minister were part of a previous government advertising campaign.
The province was also the first to ban access in certain areas to unvaccinated people, which it considers an effective vaccination incentive. However, since the expiration of public health mandates, the unvaccinated have had access to public places.
The Manitobans rolled up their sleeves together for the first two doses of the vaccine. More than 85% of eligible people received them.
But the same is not true for the third dose. Just over half of Manitobans aged 12 and older received their third dose on April 10, which is lower than the national average of 54.3%.
Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the government’s advertising priorities were going astray.
Very nice to see [dans le cas de la vaccination] the type of campaign placed to advance the budgetsaid Mr. Lamont.
Asked by CBC/Radio-Canada, a spokesman for the province did not provide details of spending to promote COVID-19 during the pandemic.
A year ago, the county said it spent more than $ 2 million promoting a variety of pandemic response measures, from general awareness ($ 575,000) to public health messages ($ 940,000). ) up to economic programs ($ 225,000).
On Tuesday, Manitoba New Democratic Party Leader Wab Kinew urged the Progressive Conservative government to strengthen current vaccination efforts as hospitals are once again struggling.
In an email to staff, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority leadership said earlier in the week that the increase in COVID-19 infections in Winnipeg is increasing waiting times for services. hospital emergency.
While we see our hospitals being overwhelmed and the health care system struggling due to budget cuts, it only makes sense for us to devote more resources, effort and urgency to the campaign to vaccinate Manitobans.end of Mr. Kinew.
With information from Ian Froese
Source: Radio-Canada
