Monument Health joins top hospitals to promote COVID-19 vaccination

RAPID CITY, S.D. (April 23, 2021) — Monument Health is collaborating with a coalition of 60 of America’s top hospitals and health care institutions on a nationwide campaign to encourage adults to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Led by Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic, the campaign “Get the Vaccine to Save Lives,” is designed to reassure the public that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary to achieve herd immunity and a return to normal activities.

“It’s truly a race against time,” said Shankar Kurra, M.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs for Monument Health. “If we don’t get to that threshold of herd immunity, we could end up losing the race and having a new surge or wave of cases and unfortunately more hospitalizations and deaths.

The campaign hopes to reach adults who are hesitant to receive a vaccine, including racial and minority ethnic groups and residents of rural communities. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey published March 30, 17 percent of the public say they will take a wait-and-see approach before getting it themselves.

Another 20 percent say 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.

The nationwide campaign includes print and digital advertising, media outreach, social media, an awareness video and an informational website

With vaccine distribution underway, the campaign aims to help Americans feel safe and confident about receiving a vaccine. To achieve herd immunity and help end the pandemic, leading health officials say at least 75 percent 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.

More than 222 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, and 53 percent of the adult population has received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 35 percent of adults are fully vaccinated in the United States.

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

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

MEDIA CONTACT:
Stephany Chalberg
Public Relations Manager
Strategic Marketing and Communications
Monument Health
schalberg@monument.health