Role of Hospitals: Beth Israel Lahey Health

The team at Beth Israel Lahey Health in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is encouraging COVID-19 vaccination through multiple channels: articles and blogs by clinicians, videos with health experts, social media content and more. Another effective communication strategy: Encouraging community members to share their stories of why they got a COVID-19 shot.

The health system makes it easy for people to share their vaccine stories. A dedicated COVID-19 vaccine information webpage outlines five easy steps for recording, beginning with finding a quiet, well-lit location to record and ending with uploading the video once recording is completed.

Most vaccine stories begin with: “This is my shot ….” Recordings are no more than a minute in length, but they pack a lot of punch.

A few examples:

• Wilhelmena received her second COVID-19 shot and encourages others to get vaccinated for “themselves, their country and their family.”
• John, a kidney transplant patient, says simply he is "so happy" to get his COVID-19 shot.
• Several Boston Red Sox baseball players share their reasons for getting vaccinated, including to “return to normal” and “travel the world.”

Community members also can record a video with a question they have about the vaccine or submit a question in writing. Then a Beth Israel Lahey Health physician or other health expert will reply and answer the question.

Beth Israel Lahey Health is encouraging all Massachusetts residents who are age 5 and older to get a COVID-19 vaccine and booster. Visit the health system’s COVID-19 vaccine hub, and watch and listen to more recorded vaccine stories.