When eligible Hawks players and members of the basketball operations staff received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine mid-March, the team announced it would use its platform to stress to the public the importance of getting vaccinated.
In a partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health, that will take shape beginning 10:30 a.m. Friday, as PSAs begin to air on 92.9 The Game, Peachtree TV, in-arena and on Bally Sports Southeast during games and on all Hawks social-media channels.
“We want to get everybody vaccinated, so you see the best athletes, arguably in the world, being vaccinated, it has to give you a sense of comfort that if they’ll put it in their bodies, it’s OK for you to put it in yours,” Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said.
“Because their career, their fortune, is their body. And we want to do everything we can to help people who are on the fence to get off the fence and go get vaccinated. We believe it’s the quickest, most effective and best way to get life back to normal for everyone.”
The Hawks also are facilitating Johnson & Johnson vaccines for their employees, offering the shot to all their full-time and part-time employees in addition to third-party arena team members (cleaning vendors, for example), with that workforce totaling about 1,500 people.
The PSAs will involve John Collins, Clint Capela and Danilo Gallinari talking about receiving the vaccine and encouraging those in Georgia to “take the shot” and seek information from the Georgia DPH if they have any questions.
As of March 25, all Georgians ages 16 and older are eligible to receive the vaccine.
“I have been thrilled to be able to work with the Hawks and their leadership promoting our vaccination efforts in Georgia,” said Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey, commissioner and state health officer for the Georgia DPH. “The players are well-known and can influence a large part of the population that may not be motivated by our public health messages alone. We value this partnership and are grateful for the Hawks’ support to ensure all Georgians ‘get the shot.’”
Per Koonin, the Hawks already have seen how a few people choosing to get vaccinated can make others more comfortable doing so, as well — in March, more Hawks players chose to get vaccinated than had originally signed up after seeing teammates get the jab.
As of now, 13 of 17 Hawks players have received their first dose.
The PSAs will run for the duration of the season, and the PSAs with visuals show photos of Collins, Gallinari and Capela receiving the shot. They were glad to have those images out there and advocate for more folks to get vaccinated, Koonin said.
“They were happy to become spokespeople and model that behavior and put it on film. … We wanted to show them getting the shot to show that they were walking the talk,” Koonin said.
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