Saint Joseph Health System launches vaccine influencer campaign

MISHAWAKA, Ind. – The Saint Joseph Health System launched the It Starts Here campaign today, focusing on educating communities of color on the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Health System has given grants to six local organizations – La Casa de Amistad, Kingdom Christian Center Church, Robinson Community Learning Center, Imani Unidad, South Bend Heritage Foundation, and the St. Joseph County Health Department – to talk about vaccination facts.

The campaign addresses common concerns about the vaccine, particularly concerns from those who are vaccine-hesitant. It centers on a  targeted approach to address this hesitancy, recognizing the long history of mistrust in the health community from those of racial and ethnic backgrounds.

“To date, we’ve administered nearly 543,000 vaccine doses to people in our communities across the United States,” said Dr. Daniel Roth, executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Trinity Health. “While this is a remarkable feat, we will continue to measure our success by how we make a difference for those in underserved populations."

According to the CDC, COVID-19-related deaths in the United States are highest amongst those in the Hispanic or Latino and Black communities.

The It Starts Here campaign in currently running in 13 other communities around the country.

To learn more about the campaign, including how two organizations in the area are directing campaign outreach, click here.