LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to sense of hesitancy in some quarters and fears about COVID vaccines found across some segments of the California public, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is launching a new advocacy campaign encouraging vaccination and education about vaccines. As part of the campaign, AHF will run a newspaper ad posing the question: “Doing Your Part on COVID?” The campaign kicks off with a full-page color ad with that question as the headline running in the Los Angeles Times this Sunday, February 7, 2021.
The ad and AHF’s “Doing Your Part…?” campaign comes on the heels of the chaotic roll out of COVID vaccinations in Los Angeles and throughout California and what AHF and many others believe has been a poorly coordinated and often bungled overall response to the pandemic in California.
In mid-January, AHF ran a prior ad urging state and local leaders to allow for a stepped-up, coordinated and decentralized response with scientists, doctors and community leaders taking the lead rather than politicians. That full-page color ad, headlined “California: Get it Together on COVID 19!” ran Sunday, January 17, 2021, also in the Los Angeles Times, and noted that several fundamental public health principles have not been followed throughout the pandemic—which has been hampered an effective response on a local and statewide level.
The “Doing Your Part on COVID?” ad acknowledges people’s fears about vaccination, noting that ultimately it is a personal decision. However, as a leading public health organization, AHF appeals to people to get vaccinated. The ad also states:
“Life is a balance of benefits and risks.
If you don't take the vaccine you have a much higher risk of getting COVID 19, falling ill and dying than if you don't - that is a fact.
If you do get vaccinated, you could have minimal side effects; you could still get infected since it will take time to generate immunity; and you may still infect others. However, you won't need hospitalization or die, and you will play a significant role in stopping this pandemic and saving humanity.”
“We are in a race against time,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AHF. “COVID is rapidly mutating. We have already lost so much valuable time. We must get ahead of this virus ASAP.”
The ad will be followed by a billboard campaign encouraging COVID vaccinations that will initially go up in Los Angeles in late February or early March. The billboards may then post nationally in other markets where AHF offers services.
“The vaccine approval process in this country was rigorous and millions have already received injections with few serious reactions,” added Weinstein. “Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in places where vaccinations are available should not waste this opportunity.”
About AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.5 million people in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare.
