Elmo is now vaccinated for COVID-19
Good job, Elmo! (Screengrab from Ad Council/Sesame Workshop)
V is for vaccinated!
In a public service announcement (PSA) by Sesame Street last Tuesday, Elmo finally gets his own COVID vaccine. Elmo is 3 and half years old.
The PSA was released less than two weeks after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency use authorization to Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for younger children last June 17. Kids 6 months to 5 years old can now get vaccinated.
"Nearly 5.7 million child cases of COVID-19 have been reported nationally in 2022 alone, making vaccination an important step to protecting both kids and their families against the highly contagious virus and its variants," the Ad Council and Sesame Workshop said in a press release.
Coping with COVID the Sesame way
In the Sesame Street’s PSA, Elmo directs viewers to this website. He isn’t the first Muppet to promote vaccines though. As early as 1972, Big Bird had already been promoting vaccines. Last November, the 6-year-old bird got vaccinated for COVID.
“Children form powerful bonds with their favorite media characters, so it can be helpful for children to learn by watching a 'friend' go through something new and potentially scary,” said Dr. Jenny Radesky, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
And it speaks to parents too.
Despite the go-signal from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 38% parents don’t want to vaccinate their kids right away. An Apri Kaiser Family Foundation Vaccine Monitor survey showed only 18% would do it right away, while 27% don’t want to at all.
These vaccines aren’t available in the Philippines yet, but I asked two moms at work yesterday what they thought about getting their own young kids vaccinated when the time came. Both said they’d wait for their pediatrician’s advice, which is, of course, valid.
Elmo’s dad Louie, who was also present in the video, addressed concerns some parents might have about getting their kids vaccinated. “I had a lot of questions about Elmo getting the COVID vaccine. I talked to our pediatrician so I could make the right choice,” he said.
As easy as 1-2-3
A 2020 study found that traditional, often repetitive health communication strategies do not work effectively in broad contextual crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
What works is a customized, three-step plan: First, it should walk us through the five stages of grief. Second, it should map out a more certain future for us (we’re busy enough dealing with our own internal crises, thanks). Lastly, it should guide us through the new roles we have to take on after the pandemic.
Elmo’s PSA attempts all this in a minute. It acknowledges Elmo and Louie’s initial apprehension and eventual acceptance of vaccines. Then it establishes that vaccinating our kids is the norm now. Lastly, it reminds us of our responsibility to keep our families and communities healthy.
This isn’t the first time prominent social issues have found their way into Sesame Street, let alone children’s media. Millennials who grew up on the show are understandably defensive over Elmo getting vaxxed this late. There’s a reason why certain politicians and anti-vaxxers would fight a Muppet again over the ad too.
Adults who want to regulate what their kids watch may reject it, but it should remind us that real progress starts young. It also proves that effective communications can and should be more like our favorite Saturday morning cartoons: eye-catching and easy to understand.
Besides, Sesame Street hasn’t been on-air for over half a century for nothing.
