No One Has Time for Flu: Campaign Aims to Reduce Deaths and Hospitalizations During COVID-19 Pandemic

In a given year, as many as 45 million Americans get sick with influenza and as many as 810,000 are hospitalized. This year has the potential for our health care system to receive an onslaught of patients with flu at the same time COVID-19 patients continue to seek care. That’s why it is critical for us all to do our part and get a flu vaccine.

Today, the Ad Council, the American Medical Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and our team at the CDC Foundation announced a new campaign, No One Has Time for Flu, to encourage Americans to get vaccinated against influenza. The campaign will inspire more people to get a flu vaccine to protect themselves, their families and their communities—particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when medical resources are already scarce. 

CDC recommends everyone over the age of six months get a flu vaccine each year, ideally in October, before flu is widespread. The No One Has Time for Flu campaign will run nationwide throughout the 2020–2021 flu season, with a particular emphasis on engaging with Black and LatinX communities. 

Longstanding inequities that put undue burden and barriers on Black and LatinX communities have driven down flu vaccine adoption rates. Inspired by the insight that people are motivated by caring for their loved ones, and that many are juggling more responsibilities than ever this year, the campaign illustrates how getting sick with flu doesn’t just mean feeling ill—it could significantly disrupt the lives of individuals and their families.

The No One Has Time for Flu ads were created pro bono by advertising agency fluent360 and will appear in print, TV, radio, social media, out-of-home and digital formats nationwide in time and space donated by the media. 

The CDC Foundation is pleased to bring these partners together for this important effort during such a potentially devastating flu season. We are grateful to fluent360 for their pro-bono support of this effort, and we appreciate the work of our partners in this effort to advance this critical message.

None of us have time for flu, so please protect yourself, the ones you love and our health systems by getting a flu shot. You can visit GetMyFluShot.org for more information, including where to get a flu vaccine in your area.