The original article was updated June 29, 2022.
FL SAND kicked off its #VaccinatedandFree public information campaign in June in an effort to encourage COVID-19 vaccination and booster shots among people with disabilities in Florida.
The campaign will include videos from self-advocates who have gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, interactive social media posts, and a conference call Q & A with self-advocate and health leaders. Take a look at the videos here.
All of the messages in the campaign will be stamped with the #VaccinatedandFree hashtag and theme. This theme tries to explain that being vaccinated against COVID-19 will help people to begin getting back to the normal things in life they’ve missed doing. In other words, to be free again.
Members of FL SAND came up with the creative theme and some volunteered to share their stories in featured videos. Self-advocates in Florida will be encouraged to share their similar stories in social media posts.
Florida Self-Advocates Network’D, or FL SAND, received a grant from national self-advocacy organization, Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), to create this statewide campaign. FL SAND Vice President Amanda Baker remembers having to be convinced to get the vaccine last year but today says it definitely gives her a feeling of independence and freedom.
“I was one of those persons that was scared of getting the vaccine. But I talked to my doctor and I did my research and I got my information – and not on Facebook. And when someone does that, most of the time that’s going to lead to getting vaccinated,” Baker said.
FL SAND hosted a #VaccinatedandFree Q & A June 22 at 3:30 PM (Eastern). Special guests were Dr. Jeffrey Brosco, associate director of the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami, and Dr. Elizabeth Perkins, associate director of the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities at the University of South Florida, both centers are University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service. An audio recording of the Q & A can be found here.
Look for #VaccinatedandFree social media posts on the FL SAND and Florida Self-Advocacy Central Facebook pages.