Move with the Mayor  Vaccination Campaign

As a community, we have come so far together over the past two years. The COVID-19 pandemic brought hardships we never expected – overwhelming our hospitals, hurting our local businesses, and heartbreakingly, taking many lives. But Waterloo stood strong, and there are many positive signs that we are recovering. We are back to work and school. We’re eating out again and gathering with our friends. We’re getting healthier.

Now we have the opportunity to take charge of our health in other ways.

We all know about getting our annual flu shot, and getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is becoming just as routine. But there are other routine vaccinations we need as adults that can help protect us against serious illnesses such as shingles, pneumonia, and whooping cough. We don’t hear as much about these vaccines, and if you’re like me, you may not even realize you need them as an adult.

What are these other vaccines, and why do we need them now? In some cases, protection from immunizations we had as kids wears off over time, so we need additional doses of some vaccines to stay protected. This is the case with illnesses we think of as “kids’ diseases” that can be even more serious in adults, such as measles and whooping cough.

In other cases, like with the flu, the virus can change over time – which is why we need a flu shot every year. And of course, some vaccinations now available to protect us from serious illness weren’t around before, like the ones for COVID-19 and shingles.

 

All of these vaccines have one important thing in common: they help protect us by increasing our ability to fight disease. They’re especially important for people with medical conditions such as asthma, heart disease, and diabetes – because they are at higher risk of developing severe complications. The vaccines help reduce that risk.

 

Why talk about this now? Because I don’t want us to lose the progress we’ve made as we emerge from these last two difficult years. So I’ve joined mayors across the country in the Move with the MayorTM vaccine initiative, with the goal of helping our community stay strong and healthy this holiday season and in the New Year.

 

Making sure we’ve all had our routine immunizations isn’t political — it’s simply about strengthening ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities. That’s why mayors from all around this great country are part of the initiative – Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, from cities large and small, rural and urban.

It’s easy to find out which vaccines you may need – you can ask your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. In many cases, they can provide them on the spot. Many are covered by private health plans as well as Medicare and Medicaid.

Each of us is free to make our own personal decision regarding vaccinations.  I have chosen to stay up to date on my adult vaccines to not only protect my health, but also my family, co-workers and those I come in contact with every day  – and I hope you’ll join me in this effort.

Getting our adult immunizations is like a seatbelt for our immune systems: they’re routine, they help protect us, and they’re always there when we need them. 

To see  my public service announcement (PSA) about the importance of adult vaccinations in our community, watch here.  

When we’re protected, our community is stronger.

Mayor Quentin Hart