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Marvel Entertainment and NYC Latino Community Doctors Team Up for Vaccine Awareness

Posted August 26, 2021 · Press Release

MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT AND NYC LATINO COMMUNITY DOCTORS TEAM UP FOR A COMMUNITY OUTREACH BACK-TO-SCHOOL CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE VACCINE AWARENESS

Marvel Entertainment and NYC Doctors from SOMOS Community Care Launch Campaign as Students Nationwide Get Ready to Return to School

Campaign to Feature the Distribution of 20,000 Limited Edition Comic Books, 20,000 Limited Edition Lithographs, and more

New York, NY —Today, Marvel Entertainment and SOMOS Community Care – New York City’s leading physician-led network of community doctors – announced a back-to-school information campaign around COVID-19 vaccinations uniting the Avengers and the Black, Latino, and Asian primary care physicians to educate the public on vaccinations and expand outreach in New York City.

The collaboration – created by Funny Or Die studio head, activist, and Co-founder of SOMOS US Henry R. Muñoz, III – will extend through Hispanic Heritage Month and include the distribution of a limited edition comic book, AVENGERS: WE ARE RESILIENT, and poster series, as well as in-person events to encourage families to learn about the vaccine. SOMOS will distribute 20,000 comic books, 20,000 lithographs, and release a ‘video comic’ to tell the story of the Avengers, frontline healthcare heroes, and a Latino family as they unite to inspire vaccine confidence and share vaccine information within underserved communities.

“This road to recovery runs through the immigrant communities of color that have been hit hardest by this pandemic and left behind in a vaccine roll-out marked by inequity and misinformation campaigns. Being able to unite Marvel Entertainment with the trusted voices from the community doctors of SOMOS Community Care in a public education campaign designed to drive awareness is a really big deal. This campaign symbolizes where art meets purpose and shows that people nationwide can come together and build community, and look together to the future,” said Henry. R Muñoz, III, Co-founder of SOMOS US and owner of Funny Or Die.

“Marvel has always told stories to entertain, inspire, and reflect the world around us. As many communities continue to grapple with the effects of COVID-19, it was important to us to help promote vaccine awareness and confidence in New York City,” said Dan Buckley, President of Marvel Entertainment. “We are thrilled to collaborate with SOMOS Community Care for this new comic book and campaign to continue to educate and encourage our communities during these trying times.”

“This pandemic has made clear that super heroes aren’t just in comic books, some wear white lab coats and stethoscopes and put the shots in arms we need to keep our communities safe and healthy during a pandemic that has raged on for nearly two years now. In the same way our doctors are trusted by the families we have treated for generations, Marvel is embedded in American households and culture – offering community through cultural icons and intergenerational heroes. I am so grateful to my friend and partner Henry Muñoz for uniting Team SOMOS and The Avengers in this mission for the health of our communities,” said Dr. Ramon Tallaj, Chairman and Founder of SOMOS Community Care.

“SOMOS’ partnership with NYC has been instrumental in avenging our city in the wake of this virus ,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Like the shields and armor that our favorite superheroes wear, vaccines protect ourselves and those around us from the enemy – COVID-19.”

 "This exciting partnership between SOMOS Community Care and Marvel Entertainment will provide New Yorkers, especially in underserved communities, accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine and the importance of getting vaccinated to effectively combat the virus," said State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Chair of the Senate Health Committee. "What a better way to honor the work of our City's medical staff, our real-life superheroes, than by getting vaccinated to avoid overcrowding our hospitals and protecting our health as we continue battling misinformation amidst a global pandemic."

“New York City’s frontline workers are our superheroes, and it is through the dedication and leadership of doctors and healthcare workers such as those from SOMOS Community Care that we have been able to keep our communities safe and cared for throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Council Member Carlina Rivera, Chair of the Committee on Hospitals. “I am honored to celebrate this partnership between The Avengers and our own real-life heroes, which will bring critical public health information, vaccine confidence, and inspiration to New Yorkers citywide.”

“They may be your friendly neighborhood doctor, but they play a Hulk-sized role in keeping our young people healthy and safe,” said Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter. “It doesn’t take Doctor Strange to know that combining our marvelous local medical heroes and vaccinations is a surefire way to smash the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Our healthcare heroes are working to vaccinate New Yorkers and to give them the super power of defeating COVID,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi. “The impacts of this pandemic have not been felt equitably—but clinicians and community-based organizations are valiantly fighting to reduce disparities. I applaud Somos and Marvel for their work in this fight.”

Council member Keith Powers said, "As the Delta variant continues to spread and the school year right around the corner, it’s critical that we are doing everything to educate families and children about vaccination. The Marvel Comics and SOMOS Community Care’s back-to-school campaign is an innovative way to combat vaccinate hesitancy and misinformation. I look forward to its rollout, and encourage everyone to get their shot!” 

"This pandemic will not be over for any of us until it is over for all of us. I applaud SOMOS Community Care and Marvel Entertainment for partnering to promote vaccine awareness and outreach in New York City. As we continue our recovery, we must ensure that we reach every single neighborhood, especially those that have been on the front lines,” said U.S. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. 

"The collaboration between Marvel Comics and SOMOS Community Care is monumental and will undoubtedly help our city as we work to build back better and stronger than ever before," said Congressman Adriano Espaillat. "The impact that COVID-19 had on our communities cannot be understated, and the only way out of this pandemic is through getting our communities vaccinated. I applaud SOMOS and Marvel for both taking this stand to combat vaccine hesitancy and misinformation and working to ensure lower-income and communities of color have equitable access to vaccinations. We can crush COVID-19, and we will do it together."

“This partnership between Marvel Comics and SOMOS Community Care is the type of innovative, community work that sets NYC apart,” said U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney. “I cannot wait to see the comics celebrating our frontline heroes and know that this community outreach campaign will help make our city safer and healthier.”

“I applaud Marvel Entertainment and SOMOS for partnering together to promote awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine in a back-to-school campaign for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other minority communities in NYC,” said U.S. Congresswoman Grace Meng. “There has been much misinformation and disinformation surrounding the vaccine and this effort comes at a critical time as we prepare to send our students—the future leaders of America—back to in-person learning. Dispelling myths and outright falsehoods will help increase the number of vaccinated people in NYC. I look forward to the campaign’s success.”

"The frontline workers of Queens who have sacrificed so much over the past 18 months to save lives and keep our borough afloat in our time of need are society's true superheroes. But there's a superhero in each of us too — all you have to do is get vaccinated against COVID-19," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "Every Queens resident has the ability to keep their community safe from this villainous pandemic, and I thank SOMOS Community Care and Marvel for their innovative partnership to inspire confidence in these safe, free and effective vaccines."

"I commend this back-to-school campaign between SOMOS and Marvel to encourage families to learn about the vaccine and to get vaccinated," said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. "We must think creatively to reach people where they are in order to fight the spread of COVID-19 and uniting our real-life essential heroes with Marvel's Avengers to tell this story is a great opportunity to do just that."

"COVID-19 exposed many injustices and health disparities that exist in our society, and this pandemic hit our Bronx students particularly hard," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. "As we prepare for our students to return to in-person learning, this creative and innovative partnership between SOMOS Community Care and Marvel Entertainment will be a great step towards continuing to raise awareness and education of vaccines, in a new and fun way. I would like to congratulate the SOMOS and Marvel teams on this monumental effort and recognize their continued efforts to keep our communities safe and healthy."

Since the pandemic’s start, SOMOS Community Care has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 response in New York and beyond. The network’s 2,500 Black, Latino, and Asian community doctors have operated over 70 trilingual testing sites nationwide and administered over 1.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to seniors, municipal workers, healthcare workers, and vulnerable communities of color across nearly 200 vaccine sites in local landmarks like Yankee Stadium, the city’s most iconic subway stations, churches, schools, public parks, and public housing to ensure equity on behalf of the underserved populations who too often fall through the cracks of traditional healthcare systems.

Launching today, the three-month campaign includes a special edition comic, stand-alone posters, and ‘video comic’ which can be viewed at somosvaccinations.com. For more information on SOMOS, and to find in-person events, and vaccination sites, please visit: somosvaccinations.com.

AVENGERS: WE ARE RESILIENT is written by Henry Barajas, with art by Craig Rousseau and colors by Chris Sotomayor.