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Board Certified Doctors Can Lead By Example with the COVID-19 Vaccine

December 15, 2020  |  Posted by ABIM  |  Uncategorized

Vaccine skepticism in the general population and even among health care workers is not only alarming but, if enough people choose not to take the vaccine, it also threatens our ability to bring the COVID-19 pandemic to an end. As board certified physicians, your choice to be immunized or not will have an impact on the decisions made by your patients, your families, your health care worker colleagues and on your community.

As an organization passionate about the critical role of scientific knowledge in medical practice, ABIM is here to support you in your decision to build trust in medical science with your community.

The following is a note from ABIM President and CEO, Dr. Richard Baron, MD, MACP, to our diplomates encouraging physicians who choose to take the COVID-19 vaccine to share their decision with their communities. Below, we provide resources to help amplify this decision.


Dear Diplomates,

As you know, we now have at least two different vaccines for COVID-19, and both of them are, in the view of the FDA scientific advisory panels, safe and highly effective. National distribution has begun, and health care workers have been prioritized as first in line for receiving the vaccine.

We know that there is an enormous amount of vaccine skepticism in the general population and even among colleagues in health care. We also know that, in order for there to be impact in fighting this pandemic, upwards of 70% of the population needs to take it. COVID-19 has already been responsible for the deaths of more than 300,000 Americans, with mortality and hospitalization continuing to increase at an alarming rate. The pandemic has threatened the welfare of health care workers who risk everything in the line of service. Thankfully, the science tells us that the vaccine has close to 95% efficacy, and now that it’s here, we can begin to see the end of the pandemic.

You will, of course, be making your own choice about whether to take the vaccine whenever it is offered to you. As a board certified physician, the decisions you make about being immunized will have an impact on the decisions made by your patients, your families, and your colleagues.

As a standard-bearer for medical knowledge and practice, ABIM is here to support you in your decision to build trust in medical science with your community. So, we’re giving you some tools to magnify the impact of that choice by sharing your decision to be vaccinated with as many people as possible:

  • On the ABIM Blog, you can find sample posts to use on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
  • Take a selfie while you’re getting the vaccine or pose with this printout to tell your community why you are choosing to be vaccinated.
  • If you’re on Instagram, look for ABIM’s custom gifs to add to your story.
  • Use #MyCOVIDVax, started by Medscape, to show that we are unified as a medical community.
  • Tag us @ABIMcert on Twitter and Instagram, and we’ll share your post.

Thank you for all you do as an expert board certified physician. And I hope you will take this opportunity to contribute to our collective safety and success by encouraging others to protect themselves–and all of us—by getting vaccinated when they can.

Yours,

Please use these social media resources to spread the word about your decision to take the COVID-19 vaccine. As a board certified physician, you are an important source of expertise and assurance to your patients, and you have the ability to build trust in medical science within your communities.

Take a selfie.

Post a photo of yourself receiving the vaccine (or before, or after!) with a caption about why it matters to you.

You can print out this frame, write down why you’re choosing to be vaccinated and pose with it in your selfie.

Use #MyCOVIDVax, started by Medscape, to show that we are unified as a medical community.

Tag us @ABIMcert on Twitter and Instagram, and we’ll share your post.

Type “@ABIMcert” in the search bar to add this sticker to your Instagram story.

Not feeling the selfie? Download these graphics and post to your newsfeed.

Personalize these captions to let your community know why you are making this decision.

I’m taking the COVID-19 vaccine, because the FDA scientific advisory panels have deemed it as safe and highly effective. I’m trusting the science. #MyCOVIDVax

I’m getting vaccinated for COVID-19 to protect my family, my colleagues and my patients. #MyCOVIDVax

It’s an honor to be able to lead by example for my community and be among the first to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. It’s the responsible thing to do. #MyCOVIDVax