Broadcasters Pledge Support for Vaccine Awareness National Month of Action Beginning June 4

Editor’s note:  Your MAB has made a state-wide Vaccination Town Hall available to television and radio stations in the state.  More here.

As founding members of the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 Community Corps, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is urging all local radio and television stations to help kick off a National Month of Action beginning June 4 to provide COVID-19 vaccine education and help ensure all Americans understand the importance of getting vaccinated.

Organized by the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Month of Action is aimed at providing 160 million Americans, or 70 percent of adults 18 and older, with at least one vaccination shot by July 4. The campaign will focus on providing more vaccination education and outreach through various mediums, ensuring easier and more equitable access to vaccinations, and encouraging vaccines through incentives provided by businesses and employers.

Broadcast stations have dedicated significant time and resources to educating their communities on the facts surrounding COVID-19 vaccines. NAB is asking stations to specifically mobilize on June 4 to shine a light on the importance of vaccines in our country’s return to normalcy. Examples of broadcasters’ education efforts include:

• Hosting medical professionals on air to answer listener and viewer questions;
• Using online platforms, such as websites and social media, to share information about vaccines;
• Hosting live phone banks to answer listener and viewer questions;
• Hosting a mobile vaccine event at the station or in the community; and
• Inoculating a station or community personality live on the air.

Stations are encouraged to direct their listeners and viewers to vaccine.gov to find out where and when vaccines are available.

“I am incredibly proud of the efforts by local radio and television stations to educate and inform the American public about coronavirus over the past year,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “Now, with the end of the pandemic in sight, they are once again answering the call to help keep all of us safe. Broadcasters will be on the front lines to promote vaccine awareness and encourage Americans to take this lifesaving step that will protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities.”

Broadcast stations’ efforts to kick off a national month of action continue their ongoing work to inform the public about COVID-19, educate about the safety and efficacy of vaccination and promote efforts to bring about the end of the pandemic. Smith recently testified before the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband on broadcasters’ efforts to provide trusted, reliable vaccine information.

NAB launched an online toolkit at the beginning of this year to support broadcast newsrooms in creating news reports, public service announcements and other messages related to vaccine safety, effectiveness and distribution. The toolkit includes a list of national medical experts, along with the option of requesting a local voice, who are available to provide expert knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccines. The toolkit is free to all newsrooms and available in English and Spanish.