COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Sheet – English
COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Sheet – Spanish

What you need to know about COVID-19 vaccines.

For nearly a year, our healthcare heroes have been battling at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic to save the lives of the people in our communities. We have never faced a catastrophe of these proportions and the current post-holiday surges in case numbers are pushing everyone to the brink. Tragically, our union alone has already lost more than two dozen healthcare workers to this disease and the California Department of Public Health reports that more than 73,000 healthcare workers have been infected across the state.

As we continue to fight for our patients’ lives and our rights as healthcare workers, one historical breakthrough has been made – pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna have developed effective COVID-19 vaccines. In mid-December, the FDA authorized emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna.

Housekeeping Assistant Leonardo Copca just took the COVID-19 vaccine for his family’s safety, and invites his coworkers to do the same to #StopTheSurge and #EndThePandemic. “I feel protected,” he says.

On December 14, 2020, Angela Balam Cervera, SEIU-UHW member and Kaiser LAMC EVS worker, was one of the first California healthcare workers to receive her vaccination accompanied by her Kaiser CEO Greg Adams and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Here’s how our community is responding to this historical event.

“Me siento muy emocionada”: trabajadora latina tras recibir la vacuna contra el coronavirus en Los Ángeles.

Dos latinas y un veterano entre los primeros en recibir la vacuna contra el coronavirus en California. 

Vaccine Virtual Photo Booth

The widespread vaccination of the population, including frontline healthcare workers, is key to being able to end the pandemic. Despite being first in line, significant numbers of healthcare workers are declining to be vaccinated, failing to reduce their risk of getting sick from COVID-19.

SEIU-UHW members are amplifying each other’s voices to help overcome misinformation and fears around the COVID-19 vaccine.

Upload your photo below, and share on your social media accounts to encourage your co-workers, friends, and family to protect themselves with the vaccine.

ACCESS OUR PHOTO BOOTH

Resources

• Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization advisory
• Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Q&A (PDF)
• COVID-19 Vaccination Virtual Town Hall PromoAd – 1-16-21

Vaccines – The State of California’s COVID-19 Response

• Learn how the State of California is working to distribute a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine fairly to everyone in California who wants it. 
• See how Federal government is working to ensure the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
• COVID-19 Vaccination: It Matters in Saving Black Lives

We will continue to keep our community updated as new information continues to develop.

Closing note from the Vice President of SEIU-UHW:

“It’s exciting that the vaccine has arrived to our hospitals and that as healthcare workers, we can look forward to a day soon when we can all be protected from this deadly virus. Too many of our co-workers have fallen sick or passed away. It’s critical that vaccines be offered in our hospitals on an equitable basis to all at-risk healthcare workers including EVS workers, respiratory therapists, nursing assistants, transporters, phlebotomists and others. And once the vaccine is distributed more broadly it must be free and prioritized for the most vulnerable communities in our state.”

– Stan Lyles, Vice President (former respiratory therapist of 38 years)