VacciNATION: inspiring stories on the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout

NYC Health + Hospitals, which operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City, announced plans to ensure New Yorkers continue to have the access to COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and treatment, as well as services to address Long COVID in all five boroughs.

As the respiratory illnesses spread, experts at WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital began to share vital information addressing the "tridemic," to help keep kids safe, avoid hospitalizations and lessen the burden on the health system.

With COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions ticking up in early 2023, University of Florida Health — which serves all Florida counties — continues to encourage people to get vaccinated and boosted. The UF Health website features “Your Guide to COVID-Shots” with vaccine availability by county, stories from community champions and resources for community partners.

Despite data on the large numbers of people who have suffered and even died from COVID-19, many still don’t fear the virus and remain unvaccinated. That was the case of an unvaccinated man in New Hampshire until COVID-19 hospitalized him at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and nearly took his life. Today, he is in good health and vaccinated.

Two healthy children overcame severe illness due to COVID-19, receiving care and treatment at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Both children had developed MIS-C, a rare but serious condition associated with COVID-19. Texas Children’s has released a video of the parents sharing their stories — and urging other parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, part of the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Network, is at “level 3 alert” capacity rate due to the triple threat of COVID-19, RSV and the flu. That’s one step away of putting tents outside the hospital’s front doors. Health officials say getting vaccinated is the best defense to avoiding overcrowded hospitals and keeping kids healthy for the holidays.

Fewer than 1 in 4 pediatric hospital beds are available nationwide, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A pediatric infectious disease physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago talks about the growing risks of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, and preventing hospitalizations by getting children vaccinated.

An animated video course describes seven distinct vaccine-related mindsets, or personas, and models how health care professionals can apply person-centered communication strategies when discussing COVID-19 vaccination. The online course, created by the Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education and based on a recent research study, focuses on using active listening strategies and motivational interviewing.

In this podcast, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center's CMO reflects on key strategies and action steps that proved successful in getting shots into arms and overcoming barriers, such as access, trust and misinformation - and the lessons learned that are moving health care forward.

When COVID-19 vaccines were first authorized for children, infectious disease specialists at Akron Children’s Hospital shared evidence-based information and answered parents’ and caregivers’ questions. The hospital team continues to discuss the latest updates on COVID-19 and allergies, asthma and flu in kids as new boosters become available.

Clinicians at St. Louis Children’s Hospital are making sure parents and caregivers know how to evaluate respiratory illness symptoms when children get sick during the peak of cold and flu season when RSV and COVID-19 cases are expected to rise. The hospital continues to urge COVID-19 vaccination for children age 6 months and older, emphasizing the importance of vaccinating young children to prevent death, avoid severe illness and help protect all family members.

Urging its communities to “band together to take action,” Munson Healthcare in Michigan has released eye-catching videos and other resources to encourage people of all ages to stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. Emphasizing the intense safety monitoring and testing of these vaccines, the health system also shares information geared to parents: “The more kids who are vaccinated the better vaccines work.”

Clinical leaders at the University of Utah Health are sharing data and stories to encourage people to get vaccinated or boosted against COVID-19. The health system also is the epicenter of Project Art Heals Utah, a collaborative art project that honors the “shared resilience” of communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As kids head back to school, Children’s Mercy is sharing helpful information for parents and teens on COVID-19 vaccines, urging that everyone age six months and older get vaccinated. The info emphasizes the facts about COVID-19 vaccines, including how they were developed, how mRNA vaccines works and what to expect after receiving the vaccine.

While masks have been removed from most school supply lists this season, health care officials say new variants, such as BA.5, can spread quickly putting kids and families at risk.

Riley Children’s Health is working to ensure that children, including those under age 5, get the COVID-19 vaccine, by hosting vaccine clinics across the Indianapolis area and ramping up access to the vaccine in pediatrician offices. The hospital also partnered with The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis to vaccinate hundreds of children.

To encourage Arkansas residents of all ages to get the COVID-19 vaccine and booster, Baptist Health has set up vaccine clinics across the state at banks, churches, schools, shopping malls and more.

Red Sox baseball players are among the Boston area community members who have recorded videos sharing why they got the COVID-19 vaccine. Posted on the Beth Israel Lahey Health website, the stories inspire others to get vaccinated and are part of the health system’s wide-ranging efforts to encourage COVID-19 vaccination.

To encourage all New Yorkers to get a COVID-19 vaccine and booster, NYC Health + Hospitals is featuring stories and videos of people sharing why they got their shots, including 99-year-old New Yorker Lettice Graham.

Children’s Hospital Colorado has kept families informed with up-to-date news, resources and expert clinical advice about COVID-19 and vaccines. The hospital recently partnered with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to administer COVID-19 vaccines to children between 6 months and 5 years at mobile clinics at the hospital’s campuses.

Seattle Children’s Hospital is taking a collaborative approach with parents to vaccinate young children against COVID-19.

The COVID-19 virus can be especially dangerous for women during pregnancy. Learn why pregnant people are more prone to serious infections and what they can do to protect themselves and their babies.

A virtual learning program helps people get “the right care, when they need it, close to home.”

With mask restrictions lifting as a new omicron variant emerges, an Allina Health infectious disease expert takes to the airwaves, encouraging people to get a first or second COVID-19 vaccine booster.

Experts from Duke Health explain how the COVID-19 vaccine is moving the nation toward endemicity.

A lot could have gone wrong during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in West Virginia and yet the rural state has exceeded expectations.

Puerto Rico governor applauds health care workers as the U.S. territory reaches a COVID-19 vaccine milestone.

Timely communications from leaders — bolstered by community vaccination events — are key to ChristianaCare’s COVID-19 vaccination confidence efforts.

Though 80% of Rhode Islanders are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — having received two doses — Care New England says it’s not enough until all eligible people are vaccinated and boosted.

Hospital leaders say that while the omicron surge has declined, the death toll among children in Louisiana has risen to 21 in February.

In this Advancing Health podcast, Jeffrey Flaks, CEO of Hartford HealthCare, and Rebecca Stewart, vice president of content strategy, discuss the health system’s efforts to connect with the community during the pandemic, build trust and get people vaccinated.

As part of a national CDC study, Intermountain Healthcare research shows COVID-19 vaccine boosters are highly effectively in preventing hospitalization and death.

As the state with the highest percentage of its population vaccinated, Vermont continues to urge that children become vaccinated and everyone receive a booster.

Three leading Indiana health systems join forces to urge people in their communities to get the COVID-19 vaccine and do their part to fight COVID-19.

After being hospitalized for COVID-19, an Oregon man describes his yearlong journey recovering from long-haul COVID, encouraging others to stay healthy and get vaccinated.

Findings suggest that access and other social barriers may be greater contributors to the gaps in vaccination rates.

UH explains what women need to know about COVID-19 vaccines and pregnancy.

Omaha-based Nebraska Medicine shares stories about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, supported by analyses of 2021 COVID-19 statewide data.

Health care leaders recognize that the COVID-19 omicron variant is different and underscore that vaccines work.

As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge in Illinois, UChicago Medicine is educating communities about COVID-19 vaccines, boosters and breakthrough infections.

UCHealth says it’s better prepared now than before to respond to the current surge in COVID-19 cases and address vaccine hesitancy.

The chief medical officer at Johnston Health in North Carolina shares his family’s personal experiences fighting COVID-19 and urges others to get vaccinated and boosted.

Clinicians at Sanford Health in South Dakota are connecting with their community via digital platforms to address concerns about the COVID-19 omicron variant.

Two researchers at Charleston, S.C.-based MUSC, who are studying COVID-19 variants, warn of a new surge in cases and urge people to get vaccinated or “boosted.”

National poll reveals 40% of parents said their health care provider has the biggest influence on their decision to vaccinate their kids.

The holiday season is a good motivator to become fully vaccinated, say clinicians at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, a state where the omicron variant has spread.

Clinical leaders at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, are participating in a campaign urging community members to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Growing concerns over the omicron COVID-19 variant ahead of holiday gatherings result in long lines at vaccine clinics in Massachusetts.

One chapter in a UK HealthCare video series focuses on its NICU, PICU and labor and delivery teams, who are caring for the “sickest patients this hospital is seeing at times” and urging pregnant women to get vaccinated.

Golisano Children's Hospital is using logic and convenience to break down barriers and get shots into the arms of kids and their caregivers.

Officials at St. Patrick Hospital in Montana say as COVID-19 cases rose, patient ages dropped. Expanding vaccine eligibility to younger people came at the right time.

Houlton Regional Hospital in Maine shared guidelines on safely hosting holiday get-togethers with friends and family and preventing COVID-19 and flu from spreading.

COVID-19 Vaccines – Including Pediatric and Booster Doses - Shipped to Military and VA Hospitals and Clinics.

As COVID-19 vaccine demand ebbed and flowed, Huntington Hospital managed a constant cycle of testing the vaccination process and adjusting on the fly.

Penn Medicine physician shares a successful technique for talking with people who are hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Pediatricians join the front lines of COVID-19 vaccination plans as eligibility expands to children 5 to 11 years old.

Connecticut Children’s is sharing information to help parents prepare their children for the COVID-19 vaccine, once authorized for ages 5-11.

As deaths due to COVID-19 increase disproportionately in rural communities, farmers, ranchers and other rural residents are opening up about the hardships they’ve faced.

The chief medical officer at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children is publicly urging everyone eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine to get it, and also sharing the best ways to protect children who cannot get the shot yet.

The Texas hospital is making house calls to educate people about the vaccines and administers shots.

As of early October 2021, the health system reached a 99% vaccination rate among staff and more than 600,000 people were vaccinated throughout the region.

New COVID-19 vaccine strategies to reach people still not vaccinated are under development.

Getting the COVID-19 and flu vaccines is safe and effective and may ease strain on hospital staff.

In Wyoming — where COVID-19 vaccination rates are low — Sheridan Memorial Hospital calls for more people to get vaccinated by sharing data on rising cases and hospitalizations, and the impact on resources.

Florida man survives COVID-19 by receiving rare blood treatment and encourages others to get vaccinated.

Tampa General Hospital released a powerful video that captures health care workers’ fighting spirit while urging the community to “do your part” and get vaccinated.

Front-line workers who share COVID-19 information and stories on social media are having a positive effect in the fight against the pandemic

Leaders of children’s hospitals applaud expanded vaccine eligibility among kids as an important step toward ending the pandemic.

Colorado mom of a two-year old hospitalized for COVID-19 encourages people to get vaccinated “for our young children who can’t.”

Inspiring nurse joins COVID-19 task force and launches community vaccination team.

Saline Health CEO says vaccine strategies must “start with the heart.”

As COVID-19 care demands “outstrip resources” at some Idaho hospitals, health care leaders came together to discuss how they are addressing the crisis and reiterate the solution: vaccination.

The untimely passing of a UF Health CEO has prompted people to get vaccinated in his honor.

Palo Alto Medical Foundation/Sutter Health pediatrician leads national conversation on getting the unvaccinated vaccinated

Clinicians at Appalachian Regional Healthcare System in North Carolina held a COVID Care Vigil and talked frankly about the resurgence in COVID-19 hospitalizations: “This wave has broken our spirits.”

After vaccinating patients at discharge at one of its hospitals, University of Rochester Medicine deployed the process across its entire care network.

Hospitals are using first-person testimonies from COVID-19 survivors to emphasize the importance of vaccinations.

Like many U.S. hospitals and health systems, Banner Health is mandating that all employees be fully vaccinated, sending a strong message to the communities it serves.

Health care leaders plead for people to get vaccinated and mask up to slow one of the Tennessee’s biggest COVID-19 surges.

The children’s hospital arms educators and parents with critical COVID-19 information and encourages vaccinations.

CentraCare is using multiple strategies to ensure communities with lower vaccination rates in central Minnesota get the COVID-19 vaccine.

A Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital physician, like many other clinicians, is making a personal plea to unvaccinated people, after witnessing new surges in COVID-19 cases.

St. James Healthcare’s chief medical officer writes about how to stop the delta variant, as COVID-19 cases increase in Butte, Mont.

A patient at Bristol Regional Medical Center in Tennessee documented his hospitalization with COVID-19 on social media.

Geisinger’s approach to messaging is keeping its patients, communities and health care teams informed about COVID-19 vaccination.

Guadalupe County Hospital, a 10-bed rural hospital, has prioritized vaccinating area residents, a population of many older adults and minorities, with excellent results.

ProMedica shares key information on COVID-19 vaccination — including for young children — as the delta variant spreads in Ohio.

MaineHealth plays a key role in leading a highly coordinated, state-wide vaccination campaign.

Comer Children’s Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital are listening to what parents have to say about the vaccines and addressing misinformation.

Fighting an “avoidable surge” in COVID-19 cases, the CEO and care teams at CoxHealth share stats and stories to urge their Southwest Missouri community to get vaccinated.

AdventHealth is ramping up plans to get more people vaccinated as new variants emerge.

An expectant mother and doctor at Texas Children’s Hospital shares advice on the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy.

Trinity Health is targeting marketing and communication efforts to encourage COVID-19 vaccine confidence and administer shots to minority populations.

 A physician/chief medical social media officer at Jefferson Health posts TikTok videos to dispel myths about health care and the COVID-19 vaccine.

 LifePoint Health combines the best of large health system resources and grassroots efforts to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of individuals across its national network.

Pro Football Hall of Fame player Emmitt Smith encourages teens to stand up for each other and get vaccinated.

By partnering with community organizations to administer vaccines and “being vulnerable” while encouraging vaccine confidence, SSM Health is reaching more and more people who have not been vaccinated.

By partnering with the local fire and public health departments, Torrance Memorial Medical Center is vaccinating people who are homebound.

Sutter Health and community partners are reaching out to areas in Northern California with high rates of COVID-19 cases and with residents who are hesitant to get the vaccine.

Using a tour bus converted into a mobile vaccination clinic, Hawaii Pacific Health is visiting schools and administering the COVID-19 vaccine.

Tampa General Hospital joined one of the first COVID-19 vaccine pilot programs and also is the first hospital in Florida to offer monoclonal antibody treatment.

Baptist Health is sharing “why” videos on YouTube that feature community members and clinicians encouraging their friends, neighbors and patients to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Vanderbilt Health extends its vaccine partnerships to include Nashville royalty and businesses.

Luminis Health is sending mobile vaccination teams to barbershops, churches and other neighborhood places to help boost COVID-19 vaccination rates.

Effingham Health System is helping people make educated decisions about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

By partnering with school districts and participating in a clinical trial, Henry Ford Health System is helping ensure the COVID-19 vaccine is safe for children and getting more adolescents vaccinated.

It takes leadership involvement, community partnerships and a can-do attitude to deploy and sustain a vaccination movement.

In Atlanta, sporting events are back and helping to get people vaccinated. In addition, physicians are sharing their “my why” stories.

The health system is taking extra steps to reassure special groups of people to get vaccinated.

Boulder Community Health shares how it’s encouraging LGBTQ people to say yes to the vaccine.

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii responds to the lagging number of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders getting vaccinated.

Spectrum Health is sharing “My Why” stories along with safety information to encourage everyone, including adolescents, to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

University Health in San Antonio is disseminating important information on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines — and sharing tips on how to talk with family and friends who are hesitant to get vaccinated.

PeaceHealth says misinformation holds back many people from getting vaccinated in their communities, so it’s spreading the word about vaccination benefits among farming families.

From sharing personal stories on social media to creating a “selfie station” at the health system’s COVID-19 vaccine center, the Baystate Health team is encouraging its community to get vaccinated.

Alabama nurse leads by example getting vaccinated and encouraging others in historic Tuskegee to do the same.

Ochsner Health is targeting minority groups and specific patient populations to address COVID-19 vaccine concerns, plus offering the vaccine for free at pro basketball games and local festivals.

Southwest Health System is doing everything possible to make sure its community is vaccinated, including sending out a vaccine swat team to give COVID-19 shots to homebound people.

AtlantiCare relies on efficient and effective collaboration and communication to vaccinate communities.

Armed with his guitar, a physician has been entertaining people getting their shots at the Mary Washington Healthcare COVID-19 vaccine clinic.

A team of doctors and scientists at UVA Health answers the public’s questions about deployment, efficacy and safety of all COVID-19 vaccines.

Johns Hopkins Medicine combines smart strategies with effective partnerships for its vaccination efforts.

NYC Health + Hospitals shows what it takes to get people vaccinated.

By offering online content in English and Spanish, UT Southwestern is ensuring its community has the information to feel confident about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Atrium Health has worked with new partners to roll out mass vaccination events, roving units and smaller vaccination events to reduce barriers to access.

Penn Medicine and Mercy Catholic Medical Center partner on a community-based collaborative to administer COVID-19 vaccines and leave no one behind.

In a video talk, an infectious disease specialist at Sarasota Memorial Health Care addresses seven COVID-19 vaccine myths.

Rush University Medical Center shows how leaning on faith and hope is an effective way to get shots in arms.

UCLA Health uses a risk stratification process to administer COVID-19 vaccines equitably, while reassuring people of vaccine safety.

St. Dominic Hospital has seen a steady stream of people wanting the COVID-19 vaccines since their community churches began serving as vaccination sites.