I came down with
COVID for the first time last August -- and have frankly been dreading another go-round this month.
Indeed, COVID cases go up nationwide every summer, but during the first year of Trump 2.0
and RFK Jr., public service health campaigns cautioning the public about that fact seem to be an endangered species.
I found one in Savannah, Georgia., where an “Avoid the COVID
Crasher” campaign has been co-launched by Healthy Savannah – a nonprofit partnership of more than 200 businesses, schools, healthcare and government organizations, and others -- and
the YMCA of Coastal Georgia.
“Watch out, here come COVID and flu ready to crash your plans,” declares a :30 PSA.
“Whether it's festivals, concerts, parties, work, or school, it's a wrap when an uninvited virus shows up…So, wash your hands, cover your coughs and sneezes, stay home if you're sick, and
keep those vaccinations up to date.”
Perhaps ironically in the current climate, the campaign has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control, now under RFK Jr., as part of a five-year
$5.1 million grant awarded in 2023 to Healthy Savannah and the local YMCA.
Perhaps equally ironic amid the Trump Administration’s war on everything it deems DEI, the grants were awarded
through the CDC’s REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) program, which, unlike many other federal government programs, still has an intact website (as of this writing).
The grant is to be used specifically “to foster sustainable health equity among racial and
ethnic minority populations in low-wealth neighborhoods in areas of nutrition, physical activity and the reduction of chronic diseases,” Healthy Savannah notes.
Besides the PSA, the
“Avoid the COVID crasher” campaign includes editorial outreach to local media.
In the campaign’s first week, the PSA had run on the local City Channel and County Channel, as
well as on YouTube, a spokesperson tells Pharma & Health Insider.
Editorial pickup has included WCJL-TV, the Savannah Business Journal and Patch.com.
The only other
mention of COVID I've seen in recent marketing materials has come from Pfizer.
In a website announcement titled “Surprise! COVID-19 Can Strike in the Summer. Here’s What to
Do,” Pfizer notes that “there are treatment options available, which may include prescription medication,” offering its PfizerForAll D2C site as one solution for getting such
treatments or COVID-19 tests.
COVID’s own treatment, Paxlovid, is not mentioned specifically in the post, and vaccines are not mentioned at all.
To date, Pfizer has said nothing
about any new COVID vaccine for the U.S. this fall, following a May FDA recommendation that COVID vaccines – now only approved for individuals aged 65 and older, and for others at high risk
– should remain unchanged from the latest version.
As for kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Tuesday recommended COVID vaccines for infants and young children, breaking
from recommendations of It differs from recent recommendations the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose new members have “a history of spreading vaccine
misinformation.”
“The AAP will continue to provide recommendations for immunizations that are rooted in science,” said AAP President Susan J. Kressly, MD, said in a
statement.