A coalition of 60 top hospitals and health care institutions have joined forces in a nationwide campaign to encourage adults to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Led by Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic, the campaign “Get the Vaccine to Save Lives” is designed to reassure the public that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary to achieve herd immunity and return to normal activities. The nationwide campaign includes print and digital advertising, media outreach, social media, an awareness video, and an informational website.
“We’re asking people to talk to their health care providers if they have questions and then get vaccinated,” says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., Mayo Clinic‘s president and CEO. “The vaccine is our strongest asset to end the pandemic, and I urge everyone who is eligible to get whichever vaccine you’re first offered to save lives.”
The campaign hopes to reach adults who are hesitant to receive a vaccine, including racial and minority ethnic groups and people living in rural communities. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey published March 30, 17% of the public say they will take a wait-and-see approach before getting it themselves, and another 20% say they will never get a vaccine or will only get it if required to do so for work, school or other activities. This leaves a significant portion of the population at risk of going unvaccinated.
“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and highly effective and offers our best hope for beating the disease,” said Tom Mihaljevic, M.D., Cleveland Clinic‘s CEO and president. “We all want to see a return to our pre-COVID routines, when we can once again gather safely with family and friends. To reach that goal, we must improve vaccination rates to achieve herd immunity. Please sign up today because we are all in this together.”
With vaccine distribution underway, the campaign aims to help Americans feel safe and confident about receiving a vaccine. To achieve herd immunity and help end the pandemic, leading health officials say at least 75% of the population needs to receive a vaccine. Herd immunity occurs when a large portion of a community becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected — not just those who have been vaccinated.
In addition to Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic, 58 other leading U.S. health care institutions have joined the campaign. They include:
AdventHealth
Adventist Health
Allegheny Health Network
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Arizona Medical Association
Ascension St. Vincent’s
Atrium Health
Banner Health
Baptist Health South Florida
Baylor Scott & White Health
Beaumont Health
BJC HealthCare
Brooks Rehabilitation
Broward Health
Centura Health
Einstein Healthcare Network
Emory Healthcare
Essentia Health
Hackensack Meridian
HonorHealth
Intermountain Healthcare
Lee Health
Mass General Brigham
McLaren St. Luke’s
MedStar Health
Memorial Healthcare System
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Mercy Health
Michigan Medicine
Monument Health
NCH Healthcare System
Nicklaus Children’s Health System
NorthShore University HealthSystem
Northwestern Medicine
Norton Healthcare
PeaceHealth
Piedmont Healthcare
ProMedica
Renown Health
Rush University Medical Center Chicago
Southwestern Health Resources
Spectrum Health
Summit Health
Texas Health
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and The James Cancer Hospital
The Toledo Clinic
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
ThedaCare
UC Health (Cincinnati)
UNC Health
University Hospitals
University of Chicago Medicine
University of Iowa Health Care
University of Toledo Medical Center
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Virtua Health
WellSpan Health
Yale New Haven Health
More than 209 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and 50% of the population age 18 and over has received at least one vaccine dose in the U.S. through April 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19 vaccines were evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials. The vaccines met the Food and Drug Administration‘s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization.
Ethos Creative Group of Burlington, North Carolina, created the campaign and donated their services. Facebook, iHeartRadio, Spectrum Reach, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and YouTube also provided complimentary resources.
