New Ad Campaign Featuring Dr. Fauci, Dr. Sanjay Gupta Among Others Aims to Allay COVID-19 Vaccine Fears
In this screengrab, Indian American neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta honors Frontline COVID-19 and BLM reporters at the 45th Anniversary Gracie Awards Sept. 10, 2020. (Getty Images/Getty Images for Women in Media Foundation)
India-West Staff Reporter
As the COVID-19 vaccines become available, you might be asking yourself — should I get it? And if I do, will I be able to go about life, without putting my family at risk? Everyone’s got questions. According to a new COVID-19 vaccine education initiative, “It’s Up To You,” the vaccines are safe, effective, and they’re going to save lives.
The Ad Council and COVID Collaborative have joined hands to create a public service ad campaign that seeks to educate the public with critical information about vaccination.
Creative assets in English and Spanish will appear nationwide over the next few months across broadcast TV, digital, radio and social media. A few of the ads are expected to feature celebrities like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Indian American Dr. Sanjay Gupta, reported The Associated Press.
Representing one of the largest public education efforts in U.S. history, more than 300 major brands, media companies, community-based organizations, faith leaders, medical experts and other trusted messengers are supporting the campaigns designed to reach distinct audiences.
Taking an empathetic approach that reaffirms that it’s understandable to have questions about the vaccines, “It’s Up To You” conveys that one of the best ways to get back to the moments and people we miss is by getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
The campaigns urge audiences to visit GetVaccineAnswers.org to get the latest information about COVID-19 vaccines, with the ultimate goal of helping the public feel confident and prepared to get vaccinated once a vaccine is available to them.
As many as one in three Americans say they definitely or probably won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Some scientists estimate that more than two in three Americans will need to get vaccinated to stop the epidemic that has killed more than 500,000 people in the U.S., said AP.
The new campaign was funded by $52 million in donations. Leading contributors to date include Amazon, Apple, Bank of America, Cisco, CVS Health, Facebook, General Motors, Google and YouTube, the Humana Foundation, NBCUniversal/Comcast, Salesforce, Verizon, Walgreens and Walmart.
