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Mayor Launches Media Campaign to “Bust Myths” that Prevent New Yorkers from Getting Vaccinated

Mayor Launches Media Campaign to “Bust Myths” that Prevent New Yorkers from Getting Vaccinated

By Yehudit Garmaise

“If enough people get vaccinated, we can end the pandemic, as we know it for New York City, said Ted Long, MD, MHS, NYC Health + Hospital’s senior vice president of Ambulatory Care and Population Health.

 Although 88% of all residents of New York City have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, the remaining 12% of New Yorkers who continue to refuse to get their shots, continue to provide physicians and elected officials citywide with the same three objections to the shots.

 “We have to constantly educate people and dispel a lot of misconceptions,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who said that this week that City Hall is launching a powerful campaign to “help to break those lies and bust those myths, so we can get everyone safe: especially with the holidays and the colder weather coming up.

 “The best way to fight misinformation is with the truth: the facts, the real thing.”

 The city’s campaign to lay out the facts about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine will get the message out in multiple languages through advertisements, the radio, the Internet, print media, and subway ads.

 “We have to tell people the truth about why the vaccine makes sense and why it is safe, effective, and available to all,” the mayor said.

 This morning, reporters saw one of the advertisements, which address head-on the three most common myths that prevent New Yorkers from taking the vaccine.

 First, the ad addressed people who had COVID-19 who think they are fully protected from future infection of the virus and any of its variants.

 “That is false,” the ad emphasized.

 As one of the three top physicians the mayor called “Mythbusters,” Mitch Katz, MD, the CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals shared that when speaking to his many patients and others, he often hears them say, “Well, I had COVID already, so I have total, natural immunity.”

 While physicians have acknowledged that antibodies do provide some temporary measure of immunity, that immunity not only inevitably wanes, but those antibodies only provide protection against the strains of the virus to which patients were first exposed, Dr. Katz has explained.

 “The best way to stay fully protected is to get vaccinated,” Dr. Katz said. “The studies have been quite clear that people who get vaccinated following infections with COVID have more immunity than people who have only had COVID.

 “That is why we want everybody: whether they have had COVID or not in the past, to get fully vaccinated.”

 Physicians also hear the oft-repeated myth that vaccines can cause infertility, however, the mayor’s ad and his top physicians emphasized that there is no evidence that supports the idea.

 “Thousands of women have safely become pregnant after getting their COVID-19 vaccines,” pointed out Dave Chokshi, MD, mayor’s health commissioner. “In fact, women who are expecting who get infected with COVID-19 are at risk of much greater harm to their babies from the virus, than from the vaccines.

 “That is why the nation’s leading ob-gyns strongly recommend the vaccine for their patients,” Dr. Chokshi said. “Based on the data, on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy, and the risks related to COVID-19 itself, we strongly recommend vaccination for all women who are pregnant, nursing, or planning to get pregnant.”

 The last myth that physicians busted this morning was the idea of younger people who feel that because they are healthy, they do not need the vaccine.

“That is absolutely false,” said Dr. Long, who also serves as the executive director of the NYC COVID-19 Test & Trace Corps. “The vaccine is how you stay healthy. Young people can get very sick from COVID, such as from Long COVID, which causes difficulty breathing, mental health issues, [and many other potential health issues.]”

 “What has been devastating for me as a primary care doctor is seeing some of my patients who are young and who were previously healthy, [but because they did not get vaccinated, they] suffered from Long COVID, which causes problems that could have been prevented if they would have gotten the vaccine earlier on,” said Dr. Long. “But don’t just do it for yourself. This holiday season: get vaccinated for your mom, your dad, your family.

 “You will protect them by getting vaccinated.” 

 “I am going to ask all New Yorkers: Help spread the truth,” the mayor said. “Let’s get everyone safe, and let’s get everyone vaccinated.”

NYC Mayors office Flickr


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