Immunize Nevada has produced a series of public service announcements (PSAs) as part of a statewide public health COVID-19 communications campaign to inform the public about the vaccine. The PSAs feature a diverse group of Nevada health care professionals, including Mark Riddle M.D., Dr.P.H., UNR Med professor and associate dean of clinical research; Trudy Larson, M.D., dean of the School of Community Health Sciences; and Diana Sande, Nevada Public Health Training Center communications manager, School of Community Health Sciences, who present science-based information about the COVID-19 vaccine. The PSAs are hosted on the Immunize Nevada YouTube channel.
How do these vaccines work? | Dr. Mark Riddle
The vaccines work in a somewhat very simple way. The vaccines that are being developed have isolated a part of the virus that is needed for it to attach to your cells, invade your cells, replicate and cause disease. You’ve probably seen pictures of it. It’s that spike on “the soccer ball.” These vaccines, in one way, or another, produce that protein, that spike. Instead of getting sick, you’re just getting that spike protein. Your body sees that, and it seizes that as a foreign invader, as not normal. Your body makes what are called antibodies to those spike proteins. That’s essentially how they all work, by creating this spike protein and letting your body do what it does naturally, which is to develop antibodies to things that aren’t normally found.
Watch Dr. Riddle’s additional Immunize Nevada PSAs:
- Can these vaccines change my DNA?
- How do these vaccines work?
- How can a vaccine made this fast be safe?
Why do we all need to get vaccinated? | Dr. Trudy Larson
Vaccine mandates have been around since the 1700’s, when we had small pox wiping out people. This is a long history of having communities say “we need you to take this vaccine so that we can be healthy and we can conduct our business.” So this is really about personal responsibility. And it’s about people understanding that we need 70% of the population to be vaccinated, before we can be secure enough to begin to live in a more normal fashion. It’s very clear, when we hit that point, with people being vaccinated, it will be a game changer. We’ll be back to not having to use masks and social distancing. But until we hit that 70% mark, we’re going to have to continue with masks and social distancing. So truly, this is about social responsibility. This is a safe, effective vaccine. I’m hopeful that people see it as a patriotic duty. That they want their community to be well and to be healthy – not just their immediate friends and family, but their whole community.
Watch Dr. Larson’s additional Immunize Nevada PSA:
¿La vacuna hará que la vida sea normal? | Diana Sande
Si queremos que el 2021 sea diferente, que caminemos en graduación, que tengamos fiestas con familia. La manera va a ser de seguir usando la máscara, distanciamiento social, lavado de manos y cuando es hora, cuando es tiempo de bajo un arte, vacunen se por favor vacunen ser y muestre su orgullo para que ustedes también puedan hacer los ejemplos para su comunidad y para su familia.
