Business Partners to CONVINCE Launch a 'Global COVID-19 Workplace Challenge'

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Business Partners to CONVINCE (BP2C) have launched the Global COVID-19 Workplace Challenge. BP2C is the private sector arm of the global, multi-sector CONVINCE (COVID-19 New Vaccine Information, Communication, and Engagement) initiative that advances vaccine literacy and promotes vaccine acceptance.

Members of the BP2C Steering Team, which includes global organizations such as Business Fights Poverty, Business at OECD, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the International Organization of Employers, jointly agreed to develop vaccine literacy strategies based on science, facts and emerging information to counter hesitation and vaccination opponents through communication and education initiatives at the global, national and local levels.

Companies joining the Global COVID-19 Workplace Challenge agree to do the following:

• Listen to employees' needs and concerns about the impact and prevention of COVID-19
• Follow the latest public health guidance to protect myself, my employees, my workplace, my customers, and my community from COVID-19
• Promote vaccine literacy based on the latest scientific evidence of vaccination benefits and risks
• Encourage vaccine confidence and uptake
• Advocate for accessible, equitable, and timely vaccination of employees
• Engage with communities, schools, faith-based organizations and public health leaders to stop the spread of COVID-19

"BP2C has developed a 'toolkit' of activities to help businesses address the COVID-19 Challenge," said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson. "Research has shown that businesses are a trusted source of information, and are well suited to engage, inform and educate workers, their families and communities with messages that inspire confidence in vaccination and encourage acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines."

Scott Ratzan MD, executive director of BP2C and co-founder of CONVINCE, stated: "The potential for business to engage meaningfully in the growing international movement to address COVID with evidence-based vaccine literacy strategies is massive. Employers have the trust, respect and reach to support vaccine confidence with communication and education initiatives at the global, national and local levels."

BP2C Steering Committee member Professor Heidi Larson, director of the Vaccine Confidence Project and co-founder of CONVINCE added that: "The COVID-19 pandemic challenges all of us to engage in meaningful ways. We urge businesses of all sizes and in all industries – from multinational corporations to small- and medium-sized national and local enterprises to sign up to the COVID-19 Workplace Challenge and help expedite our return to a pandemic-free society."

About Business Partners to CONVINCE:
Business Partners to CONVINCE (BP2C) is a global, private sector initiative of The USCIB Foundation—the education arm of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB). BP2C, launched in July 2020 in support of the multi-sector CONVINCE campaign, is a global communication and education initiative to promote COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among private sector employers and employees.

SOURCE United States Council for International Business (USCIB); The USCIB Foundation