Canberra radio station 2CA is changing its name to encourage people to get vaccinated.
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The radio station announced on Monday that, after 90 years as 2CA, it would go by the Covid-appropriate name of 2JAB on Tuesday to encourage Canberrans to get double vaccinated.
"It felt like with the name 2CA, the name change was an easy one to do, particularly because people need to get a double jab," programme director Chris Beckhouse says.
"We have catch-ups, usually every day, where we throw a few ideas around about what could do but we didn't think we could pull it off to do a name change. There's a lot of things you have to organise but it ended up coming together quite easily."
Of course, it's more than just a name change.
The first step the radio station did was campaign within their own office for employees to commit to getting the vaccination if they hadn't already.
The radio station is now looking further afield.
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2JAB - as it will be known on Tuesday - will use the name change as a chance to encourage those who are eligible and unvaccinated throughout Canberra and surrounds to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated. Throughout the day they will provide information as to where residents can access their jabs to help Canberra reach the vaccination targets.
"We want to target those specific groups that might be dragging the chain a little bit," group programme director Peter Davidson says.
"We want to reach the older demographic who just haven't got a vaccine for whatever reason and encourage parents and grandparents to encourage the younger members to go and get the vaccine who are now eligible for it.
"And even those people in the small minority who may not even have a Medicare card, we've got information for those people as to how and where they can go about and get access to a vaccine as well. So it's about getting us over the line and getting us to where we need to be so we get our freedoms back."
The day will then be followed up with a walk-in vaccination clinic on Thursday at Kenolta Medical Centre in Nicholls.
With no need to book, the radio station is hoping that it will entice people who haven't had the chance to make an appointment elsewhere, to get their Covid vaccine.
"You literally turn up and get your vaccination done and it should be a minimum wait time as well," Beckhouse says
"I think a lot of people are stuck at home with work and they probably don't have the time or can't think past the next two weeks to make a booking.
"So this is just making it easy where you know you can turn up and you know you're going to be able to get a vaccination.
"Canberra's been fantastic already and this is just for those people who can't find the time to wait three or four weeks to get a booking.
"Hopefully that walk-in vaccination clinic should help out on Thursday and then we got more to come the following week as well."
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