PASCACK VALLEY—A new public service announcement produced by Park Ridge’s PKRG-TV — and airing on its public access channel — highlights local experts and takes aim at vaccine hesitancy while urging viewers to get vaccinated “to protect ourselves, our families and those around us.”
Those words of advice come from Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Moss is one of three experts featured in the new three-minute “Get Vaccinated” public service message produced by PKRG-TV directors Lori Joachim Fredrics and Howard Fredrics.
Fredrics told Pascack Press on Aug. 26 that the experts were chosen “as local or originally local experts in varied health areas with different but extensive vaccine related experience.”
He said, “ They are also representative of our diverse viewership both in Park Ridge and throughout Bergen County, including communities with a history of negative experiences with our healthcare system, and who have demonstrated greater vaccine hesitancy.”
The PSA came together as Covid-19’s delta variant has accounted for the majority of Covid-19 cases in the United States. The New Jersey Department of Health says the variant is twice as contagious as before; the vaccine protects those who take it from infection, illness, hospitalization, and death; and that everyone should wear a mask where Covid-19 transmission is high.
The vaccine is safe, free, and effective.
“We are obviously concerned with reaching those who have for whatever reason chosen thus far to remain unvaccinated, in the hopes that our PSA will help to give them confidence in the available vaccines,” Fredrics said.
The pro-vaccination message airs on Optimum Ch. 77 (Park Ridge) and Verizon FIOS Ch. 22, which reaches parts of Bergen and Passaic counties, and can be seen online.
The message features Park Ridge Pharmacy pharmacist Amgad Wassef and Trevor Dublin, administrator of the Buckingham Care & Rehabilitation Center, Norwood. Dublin is also host of PKRG-TV’s “What’s Cookin’, Park Ridge.”
Moss, originally from Demarest, resides in Maryland.
Moss acknowledges from the start that some residents are hesitant about vaccination, noting “some want to wait and see and others are adamant they will not be vaccinated.”
Dublin, originally from Guyana and also a former administrator at the Atrium in Park Ridge, notes “that some of you may find it hard to trust Covid-19 vaccines because of the history of negative experiences with our medical system. But we must not allow the past to deprive our communities of the present-day life-saving abilities of these remarkable vaccines.”
Moss adds, “It’s very important that we listen to people who are reluctant to get vaccinated against Covid-19, those who have questions and understand their concerns. But I want to assure you that these vaccines were very carefully and rigorously evaluated.”
Moss continued, “And there’s a huge amount of evidence that these vaccines are safe and effective. From the clinical trials that enrolled tens of thousands of people and now from real-world use in millions and millions of people.”
Wassef, a pharmacist and native of Egypt, noted that most of the vaccines “can have some side effects, but the vast majority of them are very short term and not serious or dangerous.”
Moss said the answer to the question “why get vaccinated” is to “protect yourself and those around you.”
He advised those with questions or concerns to consult their doctor “or go to a trusted source such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.”
Moss said to continue to ask questions but “remember we’re still in the midst of a terrible pandemic and we need to do everything we can to protect ourselves, our families and those around us.”
Wassef concludes the three-minute public service message by telling viewers how to access a free Covid-19 vaccine by visiting covid19.nj.gov or phoning (855) 568-0545.
Fredrics said he will be producing a longer, more detailed public service message on getting vaccinated.
“This is a short, rather abridged version that we are releasing now, with plans to edit and release one or more longer versions containing more complete information from the health experts included in this short version,” he said.
“We have all of the footage and simply need to create a longer version or versions as soon as possible. If you don’t see a topic included that you think should be, realize that we might have such material as part of our raw footage,” Fredrics said.
He added, “Of course, as the pandemic evolves, we would likely add/replace footage to correspond with newly available information.”
By late August, the state Department of Health was reporting nearly 5.5 million state residents were fully vaccinated against Covid-19.