Between October 1 and November 12, advocates across the country will be mobilizing in their communities to raise awareness about the lifesaving potential of vaccines and funding global immunization programs in the U.S. budget.
Vaccine equity is important now more than ever. While life may be returning to normal in some countries, most low-income countries around the world still do not have access to lifesaving vaccines, for both COVID-19 and deadly diseases like polio, measles, pneumonia, and rotavirus. Sadly, around 75% of COVID-19 vaccines distributed so far have gone to just 10 countries.
As we approach events such as World Polio Day (October 24) and World Pneumonia Day (November 12), we can make sure our members of Congress know their constituents support global vaccination efforts and understand the vital role the U.S. plays in the lives of children around the world.
Here’s how you can get involved:
Take a few minutes to ask Congress to fully fund global immunization programs in the 2022 fiscal year. The easiest way to send an email to your elected officials is by signing our petition, which automatically sends emails to your members of Congress. The petition has a default message, but we encourage you to personalize it.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated with devastating results, now is a critical moment to protect the progress made through global immunization programs.
After you sign our petition, make sure to fill out the second part of the form to tweet your members of Congress letting them know that global vaccine programs are important to you.
Use our social media toolkit to help spread the word about Mobilize to Immunize and our fall activities with your social networks! You can find suggested messages and downloadable graphics to share on your Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles.
Calling your legislators is a quick and easy way to advocate for global childhood immunizations directly. To make the biggest impact, join us on our call-in day on Thursday, October 21, ahead of World Polio Day on October 24, when Champions across the country will also be calling their representatives.
Call 202-902-6614 to ask to be connected to your three representatives (two senators and one House representative) on Capitol Hill! If you don’t know who your House representative is, you can look it up here. Using this number helps Shot@Life track our total outreach efforts.
If you aren’t able to join us on October 21, you can call anytime throughout Mobilize to Immunize using the following resources as a guide.
Note: If the office gets back to you with a specific appropriations request form, please let us know and we will help fill it out.
Writing a letter to the editor (LTE) in your local media outlet is easier than you think. On top of raising awareness in your community around the importance of vaccines, LTEs get the attention of your representatives when you set up meetings with them.
Below are some resources to guide you while writing your LTE. Our team is eager to support you, whether in the drafting or editing process. Please contact the communications team at media@shotatlife.org for questions regarding LTEs.
Hosting a virtual advocacy or fundraising event is a great way to raise awareness about global immunization programs! Here are some ideas to get you started, but feel free to be creative and plan any events that your community will be interested in.
You can let your event attendees know that the easiest and quickest advocacy action they can take is signing our active petition at shotatlife.org/petition. Email us at champions@shotatlife.org if you need tech help to run your event!
Meeting with your Congressional offices is the highest-impact advocacy action that you can take all year. Whether you are a seasoned Shot@Life advocate or this will be your first time setting up meetings, we are here to support you throughout the process. Read more about scheduling, preparing for, and holding your meetings in the instructions document below, and always feel free to reach out to champions@shotatlife.org with questions.
If you would like to take the lead with setting up meetings in your state, please fill out this form here, and a member from the grassroots team will be in touch with you.
Note: If the office gets back to you with a specific appropriations request form, please let us know and we will help fill it out.
For the upcoming 2022 U.S. budget, the House of Representatives already passed their versions of the bills, but you can view how your House representatives voted (below) in preparation for your meetings:
Need more help? Learn more about these advocacy actions through videos on our YouTube page.