TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The first of many meetings for Tallahassee's COVID-19 Community Awareness and Advocacy Task Force took place Thursday, launching a day after the news that the Moderna vaccine is coming to Leon County.
The group wants everyone to get vaccinated but says they are specifically focused on black and brown communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
There are three objectives, including the creation of the task force with medical and community stakeholders, developing targeted messaging for different communities, and outreach in under-served areas like zip codes 32304 and 32305.
A dashboard that will list community resources for health care will be created, according to the task force.
Dr. Andrea Friall, Chief Medical Officer at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare said there is much work ahead to make people feel comfortable with getting vaccinated.
"We have our work cut out for us to get our message out to the community, instilling trust in the process to educate and provide the vaccine to all the members of our community. And it's going to be quite the team effort and I'm ready to get boots on the ground to help," said Friall.
The task force is made up of five committees:
- Neighborhood mobilization
- Faith-based outreach
- Community ambassadors
- Marketing and advertising
- Budget and operations
The task force will meet virtually every fourth Thursday of the month and will continue their efforts well after vaccines have been distributed.
