UChicago Medicine joins nationwide campaign with other leading hospitals to promote COVID-19 vaccination

The University of Chicago Medicine is collaborating with a coalition of 60 of America's top hospitals and health care institutions on a nationwide campaign to encourage COVID-19 vaccination. The "Get the Vaccine to Save Lives" campaign is designed to reassure the public that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary to achieve herd immunity and a return to normal activities.

The campaign hopes to reach vaccine-hesitant adults, including racial and minority ethnic groups. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey published March 30, 17% of those surveyed said they’d take a wait-and-see approach before getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Another 20% said 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.

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.

With vaccine distribution well underway in Chicago and across the country, the campaign’s goal is to help Americans feel safe and confident about receiving a vaccine.

So far, more than 195 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered nationwide and 48% of the population age 18 and over has received at least one vaccine dose in the U.S. through April 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That figure includes the more than 51,000 people who have been vaccinated at UChicago Medicine since mid-December.

COVID-19 vaccines were evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials, including two that took place at UChicago Medicine. The vaccines met the Food and Drug Administration’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization.

The nationwide campaign includes print and digital advertising, media outreach, social media, an awareness video and an informational website. Other participating healthcare organizations include Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Yale New Haven Health, Northwestern Medicine and Rush University Medical Center.

For more information about the campaign, visit ourshot2savelives.org.