Just a few months into his tenure as U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy has launched a campaign to encourage vaccinations, using none other than Sesame Street superstar Elmo.
“Those are the shots that help you stay healthy,” Murthy tells Elmo in the short YouTube video. “Don’t worry, Elmo,” Murthy says. “It’s just a little pinch. And it’s safe.” After which Elimo encourages the audience to “Get vaccinated with Elmo!”
Watch it:
In a second longer video produced with the Daily Dot, Elmo is actually vaccinated after Murthy explains the science behind vaccines. Elmo hums the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” as he is administered the seemingly painless shot, after which Elmo ponders, “Why doesn’t everybody get a vaccination?”
“That’s a good question, Elmo,” Vivek says. And then they stare into the camera looking puzzled, as the camera fades out.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Elmo have an important message for parents and kids about vaccines.Vaccinations…
Posted by The Daily Dot on Friday, April 17, 2015
The campaign comes as the numbers of Americans opting out of vaccines or delaying them for their kids have reached record highs in some places, on the misleading belief that they are harmful for children. Low vaccination rates imperil the safety of everybody against diseases like Measles through a phenomenon known as “herd immunity,” which means that vulnerability to highly contagious disease increases when immunity falls below a certain percentage. In the case of measles, 95 percent.
Studies have even linked these anti-vaxxer campaigns to recent Measles outbreaks, including one at Disneyland.