Eighteen Leading Health Organizations and Dr. Anthony Fauci Partner with the Ad Council and the COVID Collaborative to Help Healthcare Providers Better Understand and Answer Common Questions about COVID-19 Vaccination

NEW YORK, Dec. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Council and the COVID Collaborative today announced a new resource designed to address healthcare professionals' questions about COVID-19 vaccination. The videos [link]–which feature an introduction from Dr. Anthony Fauci–include experts from a diverse coalition of leading healthcare organizations and medical institutions sharing information around COVID-19 vaccine development and safety with their fellow physicians and nurses.

The video series was developed in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and top health and medical institutions. The content will be shared with the medical community to increase understanding and confidence about the efficacy and safety of the new vaccines. Topics addressed include safety, availability, cost, side effects, vaccine administration, answering patients' questions and more.

"I'm urging healthcare professionals to please get vaccinated," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIAID Director. "It's critical to protect yourselves and your family—but it's equally important as healthcare providers to show confidence in the vaccines so that other people will follow suit and get vaccinated. Together, we can help a substantial portion of the population decide to get vaccinated and ultimately end the pandemic as we know it in this country."

The informational content is part of the Ad Council and the COVID Collaborative's ongoing COVID-19 Vaccine Education efforts, which will release a wide range of communications designed to reach many audiences over the coming months.

"Our nation's healthcare workers have been working tirelessly to fight this pandemic and protect our communities, and now it's our turn to help them," said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council. "We're proud to team up with some of the nation's leading medical and health experts to help physicians and nurses get the facts they need to feel confident in choosing to be immunized against COVID-19, and ultimately, advise their own patients about the vaccines."

The videos were created pro bono by advertising agency Group SJR in partnership with top medical associations and institutions including:

• American Hospital Association
• American Medical Association
• American Nurses Association
• Black Coalition Against COVID
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Morehouse School of Medicine
• National Association of Hispanic Nurses
• National Black Nurses Association
• National Hispanic Medical Association
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• National Medical Association
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

"Transparency surrounding COVID-19 vaccines—including the science behind the development and authorization process, safety, efficacy and side effects—will be essential to build trust and ensure people in the U.S., including people in minority communities, are ready and willing to take the vaccine. We must continue to make sure physicians have the science-based evidence and information they need to help them promote vaccine confidence among their patients and the general public," said AMA President Susan R. Bailey, M.D. "Science and ingenuity have given us the tools to vaccinate our population, and if enough of us roll up our sleeves, these vaccines will reduce death and severe illness and help us eventually reclaim normalcy in our communities.

"Ending the pandemic requires all of us eventually to get vaccinated, even folks who have in the past had reason to be skeptical of vaccines," said Deval Patrick, Co-Chair of the COVID Collaborative. "Meeting this challenge requires unprecedented collaboration, which is why we committed our network to partner with the Ad Council, the CDC, and others to produce high quality content and help increase confidence."

To reach healthcare workers, the content will be distributed via professional and community networks including:

• American Public Health Association
• Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
• Infectious Diseases Society of America
• National Association of County & City Health Officials
• National Medical Fellowships
• UnidosUS

This vaccine education effort builds on the success of the Ad Council's unprecedented, multi-pronged communications campaign to help the nation combat COVID-19. To date, that work has resulted in $408.9 million in donated media value, 58.4 million engagements and 31.2 million visits to Coronavirus.gov.

The Ad Council
The Ad Council has a long history of creating life-saving public service communications in times of national crisis, starting in the organization's earliest days during World War II to September 11th and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. Its deep relationships with media outlets, the creative community, issue experts and government leaders make the organization uniquely poised to quickly distribute life-saving information to millions of Americans.

The Ad Council is where creativity and causes converge. The non-profit organization brings together the most creative minds in advertising, media, technology and marketing to address many of the nation's most important causes. The Ad Council has created many of the most iconic campaigns in advertising history. Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk. Smokey Bear. Love Has No Labels.

The Ad Council's innovative social good campaigns raise awareness, inspire action and save lives. To learn more, visit AdCouncil.org, follow the Ad Council's communities on Facebook and Twitter, and view the creative on YouTube.

The COVID Collaborative
The COVID Collaborative is a national assembly of top experts, leaders and institutions in health, education and the economy working with associations representing state and local leaders and vulnerable communities to stop the spread and safely and sustainably reopen schools, business and other places where Americans gather. 

To learn more, visit covidcollaborative.us.

AMA
The American Medical Association is the physicians' powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.

CDC
CDC works 24/7 protecting America's safety, health and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America's most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.

HHS
The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.

NIAID
NIAID conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. For more than 60 years, NIAID research has led to new therapies, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and other technologies that have improved the health of millions of people in the United States and around the world. NIAID is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Additional Partner Quotes

American Hospital Association President & CEO Rick Pollack:
"Our nation's health care professionals are a special group of people. They are compassionate and highly skilled individuals dedicated to caring for their patients and protecting communities. We have seen this reflected in their tireless work in their fight against COVID where they have sacrificed so much to provide essential health care services and save lives. We continue to rely on the advice of our scientists, public health experts and clinicians and join them in asking everyone to take precautions like wearing a mask, washing your hands and physical distancing. In addition, we must now focus on the push for high rates of vaccination if we are to overcome this virus. The arrival of the COVID vaccines offer hope for a better future."

American Nurses Association President Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN:
"I am grateful for the courage and dedication of those on the frontlines of the pandemic.  I was proud to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial as a way to demonstrate my confidence in the safety and efficacy of the development process and in this Ad Council initiative to reach nurses and physicians with timely and important information. I encourage nurses to be informed and to get vaccinated as soon as possible, to protect themselves and as a role model for others, so that we can achieve widespread vaccination and return to normal activities."

Black Coalition Against COVID-19 (BCAC) Co-Founder Reed Tuckson, MD:
"Over the past few months, in response to multiple outreach efforts, there has been a steady increase in the number of African Americans who are willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 according to Blackdoctor.org. The increase in vaccine confidence is promising, and this campaign will go a long way for those who are still undecided and seeking more information about COVID-19 vaccination from trusted sources."

Morehouse School of Medicine President & Dean Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG:
"Morehouse School of Medicine has been preparing for this moment for more than 40 years. We have worked tirelessly to establish trust in the medical field, we are actively listening to concerns and questions from both clinicians and patients, and we're proactively addressing them. We want to assure our colleagues that the COVID-19 vaccine has been rigorously tested for safety and efficacy. We also want to reinforce that we're here as an information resource, and that no matter the question or concern, we're here to help during this time. I would also like to speak directly to my colleagues: you have been on the frontline of this pandemic and have seen first-hand the devasting toll the virus takes. You deserve the protection that the vaccine provides."

National Association of Hispanic Nurses President Alana Cueto, MSN, RN, CNL:
"The National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) is pleased to join the efforts in providing vaccine education."

National Hispanic Medical Association President & CEO Elena Rios, MD, MSPH, FACP:
"It's critical for providers to tell their Latino patients how important getting vaccinated will be to their families. These are the families who have essential workers who have to leave their homes every day and students who need to go to school. As healthcare providers, we have to remind our patients how important it is for them to be healthy for their families, which is why getting the vaccine is so important."

SOURCE The Ad Council

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