Patients trust you. You rely on us. Rx Vax is your prescription for COVID-19 vaccine conversations Patients trust you to meet their health needs. They come to you for accurate information. They see you as a valuable source to learn more about COVID-19 vaccines. Many providers, specialists, and doctors rely on Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department for specific information to answer their patients’ questions and concerns about getting vaccinated. We want you to be ready to tackle tough conversations about COVID-19 vaccine with your patients. Pierce County Medical Society has partnered with the Health Department to meet this need. Rx Vax—online tools to help you talk with your patients about COVID-19 vaccine. Rx Vax is a webpage built specifically for healthcare providers. With printable, easy-to-read, data-driven graphics, frequently asked questions and answers, and links to updated data—it will spark conversations and prepare you to answer patients’ questions about COVID-19 vaccine and encourage more people to get the COVID shot. Rx Vax also goes beyond the doctor’s office to help you find ways to reach out to your community. Videos and links to resources connect you with local community organizations and businesses so you can speak about COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness. We receive feedback for Rx Vax from providers and will continue to update the site to reflect your needs and priorities. We want you to have easy-to-use resources to respond to the emerging questions and concerns your patients may have about COVID-19 vaccine. Healthy Campus 253 RX Vax is just one strategy we are using to encourage more people to get vaccinated. We have also partnered with Pierce County colleges and universities to give students and staff tools they need to stay healthy. Our Healthy Campus 253 campaign will be a one-stop shop. College and university students can get data about why COVID-19 is important to them, like young adult case rates and costs of a hospital stay.
The Health Status of Pierce County
Anthony Chen, MD, MPH Infographics, social media graphics, and testimonials from student trusted messengers will give students an easy way to spread accurate information with their friends. College and university students will join the ranks of our trusted messengers to help spread the facts about COVID-19 and encourage others to get the shot. The website will help general college health, too. We will have reminders about the flu vaccine and other health tips. Supporting businesses to get more people vaccinated We partner with businesses and other organizations to get more people vaccinated, because it’s good for health, it’s good for business, it’s good for our school children, and it’s good for our community. The Health Department developed a toolkit for businesses to help. We focus on working with businesses to help normalize COVID-19 vaccines. We have met weekly for the past few months with a group of business leaders from around the county, including members of the economic development board, chamber of commerce and hospitality association, to find collaborative, innovative solutions to work together to limit the spread of COVID-19. Those discussions include how we can support businesses that want to voluntarily require some form of vaccination among customers or employees. We are developing an outreach team and toolkit to help businesses navigate the federal vaccine mandate for those with 100 or more employees. We are focused on helping businesses prepare for all possibilities and supporting their effort to get more people vaccinated. You are a critical partner as we continue the work to limit the spread of COVID-19. You are essential in the effort to keep people healthy, children in school, and our businesses open and healthy. Please visit tpchd.org/rxvax, and if you have suggestions for improvements, please contact Elizabeth Wang at ewang@tpchd.org.
FALL 2021
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