To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Department of Health Services
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jennifer Solito, 707-565-4774
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Respiratory Vaccine Awareness Campaign Agreement Amendment
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Authorize the Director of Department of Health Services, or designee, to approve the first amendment to an agreement with A Bright Idea LLC, expanding the scope of work to support and expand a respiratory vaccine awareness campaign that is focused on increasing the County’s COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccination rates, increasing the budget by $100,000 for a new not-to-exceed contract total of $200,000 through June 30, 2025; and authorize the Director of Health Services, or designee, to execute amendments thereto which do not significantly change the scopes of service subject to review and approval by County Counsel.
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Executive Summary:
The Department of Health Services requests Board authorization to amend its agreement with A Bright Idea, LLC, for its Respiratory Vaccine Awareness Campaign. The Department is requesting to increase the contract amount by $100,000 to enhance COVID-19 focused messaging and increase the length of the campaign to span most of the respiratory illness season. The proposed amendment increases the not-to-exceed contract total to $200,000 through June 30, 2025.
Discussion:
During each respiratory illness season in Sonoma County (October-April), multiple hospitalizations and deaths occur among residents due to preventable illness. Since the advent of COVID-19, the county has had an unprecedented number of deaths due to respiratory illness including a rise in Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and influenza deaths. Since 2020, 696 Sonoma County residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19, 40 people have died from influenza, and 20 individuals have died from RSV. In 2023, COVID-19 was the tenth leading cause of premature death in the county. In addition to severe health outcomes, respiratory illness causes adverse economic and educational impacts through days of lost work and school.
Research shows that vaccination is the best protection against infection and severe illness from COVID-19, influenza, and RSV, yet vaccination rates remain low in this county. For instance, only 23.6% of all Sonoma County residents are currently up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines and this figure is much lower among Latino residents, with only 7% of individuals up-to-date.
In June 2024, the Department entered into an agreement with the marketing agency, A Bright Idea LLC, to develop and disseminate messaging around the benefits of vaccination against COVID-19, influenza, and RSV to increase local vaccination rates ahead of the 2024-2025 respiratory illness season. The initial $100,000 contract (Attachment 1) was issued under the Department’s delegated authority to contract for advertising and legal notices, resolution 95-0328, with a term of June 7, 2024 through June 30, 2025. The supplier was selected from the Blanket Purchase Order list of suppliers that resulted from Request for Proposal Event SC001-0000001167. The original funding source was the Budget Act of 2022 for budget year 2022-2023 [Health and Safety Code 101320, 101320.3, and 101320.5].
To date, through A Bright Idea, the Department has been able to leverage radio, Meta, and out-of-home to reach audiences across Sonoma County and specifically unvaccinated and Latino populations, for a campaign at the launch of the respiratory illness season. Tactics included: Broadcast radio, streaming radio, Meta, digital outdoor billboard, and grassroots out-of-home (posters in a network of grocery and convenience store, restaurants/diners, food trucks, hardware stores, laundromats, etc.). This initial flight of media is estimated to garner 12 million impressions to share messaging about getting vaccinated. $100,000 has been spent on the campaign to date. The Department is requesting to increase the contract amount by $100,000 to enhance COVID-19-focused messaging based on recommendations from both our community partners and Federally Qualified Health Care Centers that more public information is needed to encourage vaccinations this season. The enhancements will allow for more localization, geographic targeting, in-depth messaging, as well as increased volume in messaging. The proposed amendment (Attachment 2) increases the not-to-exceed contract total to $200,000, with the term end date unchanged.
To enhance COVID-19 vaccination focused messaging within the campaign and increase the length of the campaign to span most of the respiratory season, DHS requests to add an additional $100,000 to the existing contract by utilizing funds that have been approved by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and allocated for this purpose within the COVID-19 Immunization Grant. In marketing, the number of “impressions” refer to how often messaging is viewed. With the addition of these COVID immunization grant funds, the expanded scope will result in a reach of approximately:
• 3,303,360 impressions from 15 second radio commercials aired across six Spanish/English broadcast radio stations
• 1,754,666 impressions from 15-second streaming commercials aired across the iHeart radio app (80% of messaging in Spanish)
• 1,921,264 impressions from in-feed, Stories and Reels running as sponsored content across Facebook and Instagram focusing on zip codes with the least vaccination coverage
• 11,217,600 impressions from use of banners and signage in locations such as grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, and laundromats.
• 9,009,510 impressions from use of digital billboards for twelve weeks on Hwy 101
Current Campaign: 12,193,703 impressions
• Broadcast Radio:
o Impressions: 1,651,680
§ Spanish: 746,190
§ English: 905,490
• Streaming Radio
o Impressions: 877,333
§ Spanish: 701,866
§ English: 175,467
• Meta:
o Impressions: 1,052,720
• Grassroots Out-of-Home
o Impressions: 5,608,800
• Digital Outdoor:
o Impressions: 3,003,170
Additional Funding: 15,012,697 impressions
• Broadcast Radio:
o Impressions: 1,651,680
§ Spanish: 746,190
§ English: 905,490
• Streaming Radio
o Impressions: 877,333
§ Spanish: 701,866
§ English: 175,467
• Meta:
o Impressions: 868,544
• Grassroots Out-of-Home
o Impressions: 5,608,800
• Digital Outdoor:
o Impressions: 6,006,340
By expanding the reach and scope of the respiratory vaccine awareness messaging, DHS can increase public awareness of where to go to get vaccinated and advance its goal to increase local vaccination rates. With higher vaccination rates, Sonoma County can decrease community members’ risk of severe illness and help to reduce adverse economic and educational impacts from missed work/school days due to preventable illness.
Strategic Plan:
Not Applicable
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
On July 23,2024, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution delegating authority to the Director of Health Services, or designee, to accept funding allocations for the County of Sonoma and execute revenue agreements, amendments, and related documents received in fiscal year 2024-2025 as necessary to receive revenue from California state and Federal agencies directly or their third-party administrators for various terms with some being for multiple years, subject to review and approval as to form by Counsel.
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY24-25 Adopted |
FY25-26 Projected |
FY26-27 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
$200,000 |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
$200,000 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
$200,000 |
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Fees/Other |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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General Fund Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$200,000 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
There is no fiscal impact because we are using already budgeted funds.
The Department’s Future of Public Health (FoPH) approved workplan includes expenditures for media campaigns which were used to fund the initial FY 23-24 agreement amount of $100,000. The Budget Act of 2022 for budget year 2022-2023 [Health and Safety Code 101320, 101320.3, and 101320.5] provides $200,400,000 annually through the FoPH to local health jurisdictions for public health workforce and infrastructure, of which $2,174,091 was allocated to the Department and included in the Department’s FY 23-24 budget.
The proposed amendment to increase the contract amount by $100,000 is funded by the CDPH California Immunization Program COVID-19 Round 3 grant in the amount of $585,301 which was included in the Departments approved FY 24-25 budget. Targeted vaccination campaigns are included in the approved spend plan for this grant.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
Not Applicable
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Original Contract
Attachment 2 - Contract Amendment
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None