As scientific disinformation skyrockets, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)—the world’s largest biotech trade association—is aiming to set the record straight on vaccines, rolling out a campaign highlighting the unmistakable value immunizations have on public health and economics.
With the tagline “Invest in America. Vaccinate,” the group’s efforts aim to “double down on education at a time when there’s a lot of misinformation,” a BIO spokesperson told Fierce Biotech.
“It’s not a belief or something specific to one side of the aisle or independence,” the spokesperson said about immunizations. “It’s about public health and people understanding that the science protects the public.”
The campaign includes a dedicated landing page called “Why We Vaccinate” with information and graphics about immunizations, a one-minute video feature and a static billboard featured in the Boston Logan International Airport during BIO’s convention this June.
“We wanted to communicate to BIO members how we were investing in education around vaccines during this important moment for vaccines,” the spokesperson said about the airport signage.
The idea for a campaign took root last year after the presidential election results came in, with BIO hoping to engage with policymakers about the value of vaccines and public health, the spokesperson said. Current health official Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a known vaccine conspiracist who has already made numerous decisions eroding the credibility of certain vaccines.
“Vaccines are one of the most important and effective innovations for the defense of public health in America,” the spokesperson explained. “They have saved millions of lives and drastically reduced or eliminated deadly and debilitating infectious diseases like smallpox, polio and measles.”
Between 1994 and 2023, routine childhood immunizations helped protect 117 million children in the U.S., preventing more than 32 million hospitalizations and 1 million pediatric deaths, according to CDC data featured on BIO’s vaccine landing page.
That success is a double-edged sword. Widespread disease prevention over the past decades means that many Americans don’t understand the severity of the conditions that previously plagued the nation.
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Today, “a rising number of people” are “unaware of the devastation caused by preventable diseases,” the spokesperson explained.
That’s why BIO chose to feature historical imagery representing polio, smallpox and measles—conditions younger people may be unfamiliar with.
The vaccine push also highlights the fact that most Americans do vaccinate their children. Over 90% of adults choose to protect their children against life-threatening infections, according to 2019-23 data from the federal government.
“It’s an overwhelming majority, not from one party or another,” the spokesperson said. “It’s nine out of 10 people in the country choose to vaccinate their children.” And that’s because of the science, they added.
But these numbers are falling, and once-deadly diseases are surging, the BIO representative said, which is why the organization hopes to remind Americans about the power “we have to prevent illness, suffering and death from disease.”
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There’s also a significant monetary incentive to get vaccinated, with immunizations preventing costly medical treatments and missing work. Fully vaccinated adults save billions in overall monetary benefits to society, which corresponds to about $4,637 in savings per person, according to an analysis from the Office of Health Economics.
“Considering it’s a preventative measure, it really does have a high return on investment,” the BIO rep said.
