‘Family Guy’ Made A Hilarious COVID-19 PSA Showing Why Vaccines Are Important
Video screenshot via Family Guy
The effects of COVID-19 misinformation can be so detrimental, the one-year-old Stewie Griffin has had to step in to allay all fears surrounding vaccinations.
In a rather wholesome move, producers of Family Guy have partnered with the Ad Council and a team of scientific experts and epidemiologists to produce an animation detailing how the vaccine works in a way the general public can easily understand. Delivering the message is showrunner Seth MacFarlane himself, who voices every character in the three-minute short.
The public service announcement starts out with Peter Griffin at the clinic, ready for his shot but unsure how it works. When pressed for an explanation, Dr Hartman uselessly blurts out: “Think of the vaccine as a large ethnic bouncer and COVID as the drunk, entitled white kid yelling, ‘Do you know who my father is?’”
Even Stewie Griffin, a baby, knows this advice isn’t great, so he transports Brian to the inside of Peter’s body for an educational excursion, à la The Magic School Bus.
Family Guy COVID-19 Vaccine Awareness PSAWatch the new #FamilyGuy Short! Stewie and Brian travel inside Peter’s body to explain how vaccines work.
Posted by Family Guy on Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines? Visit www.GetVaccineAnswers.org for the most accurate and timely facts, so we can all get back to the moments we love and miss most.
The infant dispels misconceptions claiming that the viral vector and mRNA vaccines infect the body with the COVID-19 virus to build immunity around it.
In truth, some vaccines (protein-based ones) introduce proteins that merely mimic the spiked coronavirus particles to create antibodies against the virus. Others (the mRNA vaccines) replicate the genetic code of the coronavirus—they’re “pretend” spikes designed to recognize and fight the coronavirus for if it enters the body.
Addressing the desire to simply wait for herd immunity to occur, Stewie explains that getting the jab doesn’t just protect yourself and others around you, but it also prevents the virus from escaping and mutating into something else. Allowing that to happen is more dangerous, since viruses could evolve into mysterious variants that the vaccines aren’t prepared to fend against.
“And then we’re right back where we started again: Gal Gadot singing Imagine. We cannot let that happen!” Stewie laments.
Lighthearted yet informed, the advertisement aims to “educate, entertain and encourage the millions of unvaccinated citizens around the globe to feel confident getting vaccinated against COVID-19,” explains Fox Corporation in a press release.
“With millions of Americans still unsure about getting vaccinated against COVID-19, it’s more important than ever that we have smart, informative and entertaining messages like this that will boost confidence in the vaccines,” expresses Ad Council president Lisa Sherman. She believes Family Guy’s “fresh and hilarious” spin on COVID-19 education “will surely inspire people to take the next step in slowing the pandemic.”
Viewers are directed to GetVaccineAnswers.org to find out more about how the vaccines may be effective against the coronavirus.
[via NBC News, video and cover image via Family Guy]
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