Manitoba spending almost $250K to tout 2022 budget, but nothing more on vaccination push

The Manitoba government is not running an advertising campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but it is spending money to promote its latest budget.

The province confirmed Tuesday it is committing nearly a quarter-million dollars to tout the accomplishments of the 2022 budget.

Opposition parties have criticized that advertising campaign, seen prominently on billboards across Winnipeg, as a more concerted public relations effort than what government is currently doing to boost vaccine uptake.

Manitoba has previously run promotional campaigns to promote vaccinations, but those efforts have ceased for the moment.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Health Minister Audrey Gordon rejected a question that suggested Manitoba could be doing more to spur vaccination rates.

"I disagree that the province isn't doing more. We're doing absolutely a lot to get that message out," she said. 

"I myself was publicly vaccinated for my third dose. We have social media campaigns running. I don't know if you've taken a look lately at some of the [bus] benches in your areas you're driving throughout your community, but we still have our COVID vaccine benches out."

She also said she saw her own doctor last week.

"He was going through the electronic medical record system just to make sure that I had been triple dosed.… Our physicians are doing that; our pharmacists are doing the same."

In response to a CBC reporter on Twitter, Gordon described billboards, newspaper ads and bus benches as "just a few of several strategies used to promote vaccinations."

The bus benches that Gordon referenced, which she said are still in place in some locations, were part of a previous government advertising campaign. 

Manitobans rolled up their sleeves in droves for the first two vaccine doses, with more than 85 per cent of eligible people getting those shots. The province was also the first to limit certain venues to only fully vaccinated people, which was seen as having a beneficial impact in encouraging people to get their shot.

But the same isn't true with third dose uptake. Just over half of Manitobans aged 12 and up had their third shot as of April 10, which is lower than the national average of 54.3 per cent. The province no longer has any public health orders that restrict the access of unvaccinated people.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the government's advertising priorities are out of place.