Gov. Mike Parson’s administration has inked a contract with a newly formed organization aimed at boosting Missouri’s stagnant COVID-19 vaccination rate.
The $2.5 million contract with the Missouri Immunization Coalition is the latest attempt by the administration to jumpstart vaccinations in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“The purpose of the Missouri Immunization Coalition is to improve the health of Missourians by reducing the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, focusing on COVID-19, through immunization education, advocacy, promotion and statewide partnerships,” the contract notes.
The hiring of the Columbia-based organization comes as Missouri’s vaccination has remained sluggish. According to the Department of Health and Senior Services, more than 56% of the state’s residents are not fully vaccinated against the deadly respiratory disease.
For the week ending Friday, the department said 93,580 people were vaccinated for an average of 13,369 shots per day.
But, with just 43.1% of the population fully vaccinated, the rise of the delta variant has contributed to a summer surge of hospitalizations and deaths after the virus’ spread had slowed in the spring.
The hiring is an example of how the Republican administration has sought to boost vaccination rates in recent months.
Earlier this summer, state officials launched a lottery to try and incentivize people to get shots. Winners of the weekly drawing will receive $10,000.
The new contract will be overseen by Nicole Cope, who serves as executive director of the immunization coalition, which was formed last year. Cope retired as a member of the Army Medical Corps after a 23-year career that spanned four continents.
She did not immediately respond to questions about the initiative.
The $2.5 million contract runs through November 2022. It includes staffing for eight people, including two public health educators.
The largest outlay in the contract is $985,000 for a communications firm. Also included is $325,000 to pay for vaccination sites.
Terms of the contract call for the coalition to have a plan in place by March 2022 to deploy mobile immunization events in targeted areas.
It also calls for an advertising blitz designed to get more shots in arms.
“The contract shall establish a COVID-19 multi-media campaign targeting health professionals and the public in select COVID-19 under-immunized communities,” the contract notes.
The contract is the latest example of Parson’s reliance on outside help in the fight against the pandemic, which has killed over 10,000 Missourians since it reared its head in March 2020.
State payroll documents, for example, show the consulting firm Protiviti was hired last year to help support the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ call center and to process unemployment claims and appeals related to business-related shutdowns.
Parson also hired a Virginia-based consulting firm to help the state respond to the pandemic.
Parson said the money paid to the McChrystal Group has helped on numerous fronts, including planning for the distribution of medicine across the state and the creation of computer models that help track the spread of the deadly disease.
The McChrystal Group was paid $2.1 million, according to payroll records. The firm, which was founded by retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, embedded at least 11 contractors inside state government, giving them state email accounts through the Department of Health and Senior Services.
