JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville’s Civic Council is pushing forward on educating people about the different COVID-19 vaccines and their connection to economic recovery in Northeast Florida.
Business leaders started working on it two months ago, and now it seems essential to improving the region’s vaccination rate.
“So, this is to our knowledge the first time in Jacksonville where the business community has really worked with the healthcare community to say, hey, we have a common goal here,” said Jeanne Miller with the Civic Council.
The new campaign includes videos and other resources found on its new website, “Get The Facts Jax.” It goes live Wednesday.
The Civic Council is made up of 75 different business organization, the biggest companies in the region and their most influential leaders -- leaders from health care as well as other industries.
“The goal here is to say, let’s go to one place, independent, not funded by anyone except private funding sources, collecting the very best and the very latest information in one place, easy to read manner, both in English and in Spanish, or to learn more about the vaccine, including where you can go,” Miller explained.
The state’s average rate of vaccination is about 60%, and the latest national average is at 56%. Jacksonville lags behind in the latest average -- 50%.
Council members hope to get Jacksonville’s number to improve and return to focusing on economic and lifestyle growth for the area instead.
“We want to encourage our workforce and everyone to get back to living in Jacksonville and loving all the things that we love to do,” Miller said.
The Council hopes to answer questions about vaccines. Former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney, its chairman, says “The science is clear: Vaccines work.”