Every child deserves a chance at a healthy life. That is why the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign is thrilled to be collaborating with Walgreens through the fifth annual Get a Shot. Give a Shot.® program. This partnership helps strengthen overall routine immunization services for the world’s most vulnerable children for years to come – improving children’s health, reducing preventable sickness, and building a strong healthy world for the future.
Improving access to vaccinations in countries around the world is vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of good health and well-being for the global population.
Since launching, the Get a Shot. Give a Shot. program has helped provide more than 20 million polio and measles vaccines to children around the world! The impact of this multi-year partnership can be seen in countries across the globe.
In 2014, a major measles outbreak hit Chad and surrounding countries. Over 30,000 people were infected, of which 70% were children under the age of 5. Since the outbreak, through our partnership with Walgreens®, Shot@Life has helped provide the measles vaccine to over 4 million children in Chad.
Children in East Timor often miss out on routine life-saving vaccines, leaving them vulnerable to recurrent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles. In 2015, Shot@Life and Walgreens® helped support an East Timor measles campaign. This initiative took vaccines to schools and neighborhoods across the country.
Violence and widespread displacement have made children in the Central African Republic vulnerable to health risks and diseases such as measles. In 2016, Shot@Life teamed up with Walgreens again and helped provide 1.5 million vaccines to children to help protect against the spread of measles in Central African Republic.
Around the world, one in five children lacks access to lifesaving immunizations that help keep children in the U.S. healthy. In fact, one child dies every 20 seconds from a disease that could be prevented by a vaccine. By expanding access to vaccines, we can prevent 1.5 million child deaths each year.
Now through Aug. 31, 2018, for every flu shot or any other immunization administered at Walgreens, Healthcare Clinics at select Walgreens, and Duane Reade in New York, Walgreens will donate the value of a polio or measles vaccine to a child in need through the Shot@Life campaign (up to $2 million). These vaccines are delivered through Shot@Life’s United Nations partners, which provide critical immunization programs for millions of children every year.
Through programs like Get a Shot. Give a Shot.®, we can help ensure every child has a shot at a happy and healthy life. Join us in making a world of difference!
Click here for more information.