UnidosUS Launches ¿Y La Vacuna? Campaign Dedicated to Vaccine Education Among Latino Families

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UnidosUS Esperanza Hope for All program, now in its third year, continues to fight misinformation and increase trust within the Latino community via ¿Y La Vacuna? 

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UnidosUS, the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, is partnering with the CDC to continue the Esperanza Hope for All program aimed at closing the vaccine gap among Latinos to achieve better health outcomes. As part of these efforts, just in time for National Immunization Awareness Month in August, UnidosUS is launching a new creative public education campaign—¿Y La Vacuna? —to build trust among Latinos in the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 boosters, as well as COVID-19 and flu vaccines.

This specific focus is due to Latinos receiving vaccines and boosters at a much lower rate, hampering efforts to help prevent and combat diseases. Latinos are 1.8 times¹ more likely to get hospitalized and 1.7 times² more likely to die from COVID-19. Additionally, Latinos have had consistently higher rates of severe flu outcomes.

The ¿Y La Vacuna? campaign aims to equip young Latinos to protect themselves and their families. The campaign includes a mobile marketing tour across multiple cities to bring information about the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters directly to Hispanic neighborhoods, as well as authentic influencer content that will resonate with the Latino audience and more. As trusted messengers in their families and friend circles, young Latinos play an important role in their decision to get vaccinated. With this in mind, the ¿Y La Vacuna? campaign will encourage all Latinos to get vaccinated this year against the flu and COVID-19.

"Within the first two years of the UnidosUS Esperanza Hope for All program, our CDC-funded UnidosUS Affiliates administered 578,000+ COVID-19 vaccinations and 66,000 flu vaccinations," said Rita Carreón, UnidosUS Vice President of Health. "We are proud to continue serving our community as a trusted source of information with our new ¿Y La Vacuna? campaign. We hope to rally young Latino adults to boost their community's health via their influence and actions by providing information in language and in-culture that's easy to understand through a range of efforts directed to and in partnership with our community." 

UnidosUS's ¿Y La Vacuna? campaign efforts include:  

• Mobile Marketing Tour: UnidosUS will deploy a mobile educational tour across local markets with local Affiliates, partners and on-site activities to reach and educate Latinos on the importance of getting flu and COVID-19 booster vaccinations this year. Chicago was the first market UnidosUS activated on this year on July 21. For more information on these events and how to attend, please visit unidosus.org/esperanzahopeforall. 
• Content-Creator Engagement: UnidosUS will team up with a diverse range of Latino content creators (both on a micro and macro-level) to help bring to life the campaign and increase the impact of the messaging around COVID-19 and flu vaccines, as well as booster confidence.
• Digital Advertising: UnidosUS will boost its campaign through paid tactics to reach Latinos through digital platforms inclusive of video, audio, advertisements and social media.

For more information on the ¿Y La Vacuna? campaign including digital assets, why should you get vaccinated, and local event information, please visit unidosus.org/esperanzahopeforall. 

About Esperanza Hope for All
Since the start of the pandemic, UnidosUS has been at the forefront of efforts to support Latinos who have been disproportionately impacted due to long-standing systemic health inequities and over-representation in the health and service sectors. In April 2020, UnidosUS established its Esperanza/Hope Fund to support the UnidosUS Affiliate Network and community partners' response and resiliency in crisis. In 2021 the initiative expanded as a fully integrated public communications and marketing program called Esperanza Hope for All. With the ongoing need, UnidosUS continues to raise resources for Affiliates to respond to the pandemic, including their direct support to families for food and housing assistance.

About UnidosUS
UnidosUS is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that serves as the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Since 1968, we have challenged the social, economic, and political barriers that affect Latinos through our unique combination of expert research, advocacy, programs, and an Affiliate Network of nearly 300 community-based organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico. We believe in an America where economic, political, and social progress is a reality for all Latinos, and we collaborate across communities to achieve it. For more information on UnidosUS, visit unidosus.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

¹ COVID-NET (March 1, 2020 through May 13, 2023). Numbers are ratios of age-adjusted rates standardized to the 2020 US standard COVID-NET catchment population.
² National Center for Health Statistics Provisional Death Counts (data through April 15, 2023). Numbers are ratios of age-adjusted rates standardized to the 2019 U.S. intercensal population estimate.

Contact: Gabby Toro-Rosa, [email protected]

SOURCE UnidosUS