U.S. Health and Human Services launches awareness campaign on viruses, vaccines - UPI.com (2024)

Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on March 14. He announced a new awareness campaign on viruses and vaccines on Monday. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

"Vaccines for COVID-19, flu, and RSV have helped to save millions of lives, keep countless people out of the hospital, and provided peace of mind for the country," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. "As fall approaches and people spend more time indoors, I encourage everyone to protect themselves and their loved ones by getting vaccinated."

HHS officials said that infections over six months from this past fall through the most recent winter resulted in 800,000 hospitalizations. They said that, without immunization, the risk of serious illness remained the highest in certain populations. Those included ages 65 and older, those living in long-term care facilities, pregnant people and those living in rural areas.

"Respiratory illness from the flu, COVID-19, and RSV viruses usually surge during colder weather and can cause severe disease, hospitalization and even death," Assistant HHS Secretary for Public Health Jeffery Nesbit said in a statement.

"The goal of the 'Risk Less. Do More' campaign is to increase confidence in vaccines that play an important role in preventing severe illness from these viruses and to provide the information that the American people need to decide to get vaccinated this fall and winter."

The campaign comes after a report in June said long COVID continued to plague millions of Americans. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine detailed the damage of long COVID and how it effects continue to weigh on healthcare costs in the United States.