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The RELAUNCH Greater Lansing: Economic Rehabilitation Task Force launched the “Trusted Voices” video campaign today that features prominent, trusted regional leaders in business, government, education, and healthcare. Leaders featured include Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., president of Michigan State University; Mike Zamiara, president of Niowave; Dr. Karen Kent VanGorder, chief medical officer at Sparrow Health System; Marla M. Ekola, PharmD, BCPS, MBA, FACHE, director of pharmacy at McLaren Greater Lansing; Darci Marcum, plant manager at General Motors Grand River Assembly; Daryl Green, chief of police at the City of Lansing; Dr. Adenike Shoyinka, MD, MPH, medical director at the Ingham County Health Department; and Julie Mann, chief human resource office, Neogen Corporation. 

Most respondents in a recent statewide survey by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce shared that the vaccine will be necessary for their companies to resume “normal” business operations. Many indicated that there is still uncertainty about how they will educate employees about the vaccine, encourage or mandate participation in vaccination programs, and handle returns to the office. Key findings in the survey include: 81% of respondents agree the vaccine will be important for their company to return to “normal” business operations, with 55.2% stating they strongly agree it will be important; 39.3% indicated their company has a comprehensive strategy to encourage employees get vaccinated, while another 31.9% stated their company does not have a strategy; and more than 61% of respondents stated their company will have an education program to encourage vaccination among employees, while 17% shared that their company does not have plans for an education program.

The video series will provide trustworthy and credible science and medicine-based data that aims to decrease doubt and hesitancy in the vaccines, persuade people to move, act and get vaccinated, and ultimately, achieve the vaccination rate needed to return to normalcy. 

“The Trusted Voices video series seeks to help fill the information void with timely, reliable, science-based information that should provide comfort to individuals considering whether to get a vaccine,” said Tim Daman, president and CEO, Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

The Trusted Voices video series is part of a more extensive communications campaign created by the RELAUNCH Greater Lansing Task Force to help employers communicate with employees about the COVID vaccine and move to reopen the regional economy safely. According to Sales Force, over 50% of survey respondents said they would take their employer’s advice on getting vaccinated. 

As part of that effort, the task force created an employer vaccine guidebook, How to Effectively Engage Your Employees Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine. Over the past year, the RELAUNCH Greater Lansing Task Force has developed several tools to help organizations stay current with the latest information COVID-19 and changing regulatory requirements.

The Trusted Voices campaign will feature weekly videos produced over the next few months. The videos are located on the RELAUNCH Greater Lansing website and the Lansing Regional Chamber website.