Central District Health deletes COVID post, saying it may be ‘offensive or confusing’ - East Idaho News
Coronavirus

Central District Health deletes COVID post, saying it may be ‘offensive or confusing’

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Central District Health removed a COVID-19-related post from its social media Wednesday and said the post may have been “offensive or confusing.”

The post featured an image with the message “Power to Protect Your Family” over a drawing of two cartoon-style characters embracing. Both were holding masks and wearing bandages on their shoulders, implying they had been vaccinated. The poster also directed people to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine at Central District Health’s website.

In a statement posted to Facebook and Twitter, the Boise-based public health agency said it “made the decision to remove the post from our social media platforms after receiving feedback from the community that this particular message may have been offensive or confusing in its messaging, which was never our intent.”

Officials said they had received comments from followers regarding the poster’s messaging, though it wasn’t immediately clear what concerns people expressed.

“CDH’s intent in publishing this message was simply to encourage people to get their COVID-19 vaccine and booster, a recommendation we have been issuing since COVID vaccines first became available last year,” spokesperson Rachel Garceau told the Idaho Statesman in an email. “The image itself, however, was visually a bit of a departure from CDH’s usual messaging, and some members of our online community expressed concern.”

Central District Health said the graphic was made by a local artist, and it appeared to be in the style of Ashley Dreyfus, a Boise artist who last year won a competition to have her artwork featured on Pabst Blue Ribbon cans. The Statesman has reached out to Dreyfus for comment.

Social media has been a topic of discussion for the Central District Health board in recent months. In October, the Central District Health board approved a social media policy that prohibited the agency from sharing elected officials’ posts on the district’s accounts.

A board member previously criticized the agency’s decision to support a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policy on children wearing masks in school. Information on the CDC recommendation was shared in a Facebook post.

“Our agency is fully aware of and sensitive to the abundance of confusion and frustration that currently exists in the social media landscape,” Garceau told the Statesman. “As a trusted public health agency, we aim to inform, educate, protect, and serve the counties we represent, so when we saw that our post was becoming a disruption instead of a benefit to our followers, we made the decision to remove it to avoid contributing to any more feelings of unrest.”

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