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COVID-19 Materials and Messages

2020 – Present

On this page, you'll find a supply of COVID-19 content that local health improvement coalitions (LHICs), health departments, and community organizations can use to reach community members with information about COVID-19 vaccines. We also link to health information the Center produced earlier in the pandemic.

Communication Resources and Materials

The Center's COVID-19 communication content is primarily from two of our funded projects: the COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Project and Lifting All Voices to Improve Health Literacy. Below, you'll find information on the communication resources and materials from each project.

COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Project

This content was developed to help Maryland local health improvement coalitions (LHICs) and a national network of LGBTQ-serving organizations communicate with their community members about COVID-19 vaccines. You can review and adapt the content to reach your population of interest.

The folder for this project contains

  • Graphics for social media and flyers
  • Animated videos
  • Audio clips
  • Toolkits and guidelines
  • LGBTQ centers content
  • Published hot topics newsletters
  • Content archive

Sample Materials

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Stock photo of a doctor showing a patient some information on a tablet. Text at the bottom reads "Getting vaccinated is safer than getting COVID"
A sample social media graphic sized for Facebook and Twitter.
Get vaccinated to protect yourself from serious health issues and long-term health problems
This graphic can be posted with the caption: "Even young and healthy people have gotten very sick from #COVID19 — and the virus can cause long-term health problems. The bottom line: getting vaccinated is safer than getting COVID. Learn more: [link of poster's choosing]." The graphic and caption are also available in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, and Haitian Creole.
Stock photo of doctor holding a clipboard next to a patient with Down's Syndrome looking at a smartphone. Both people are smiling.
A sample social media graphic sized for Facebook and Twitter.
If you have certain health conditions, it’s especially important to get vaccinated
This graphic can be posted with the caption: "If you have a chronic health condition, you’re pregnant, or you’re age 65+, you may be more likely to get very sick from #COVID19. You can take control by staying up to date on COVID vaccines. Learn more: [link of poster's choosing]." The graphic and caption are also available in Spanish.
Graphic titled "boosters work" text reads "Why should I get boosted? When you get a booster you are less likely to get COVID than patients without boosters. You are also less likely to get very sick, be hospitalized, be sick for a long time, get other household members sick." There is also an icon of a flexed arm with a bandaid on it.
A sample customizable flyer graphic.
Boosters are important
This customizable graphic and its second page (not shown) can help explain why boosters are important.
Community Health Worker Karla Morales is pictured wearing an Asian American Center of Frederick t-shirt. A speech bubble next to her quotes her in Spanish. The text translates to " My decision to get vaccinated for COVID-19 was easy; I got it to protect my family, myself and the community members I come in contact with through my job."
A quote card sized for Facebook.
Quote from Karla Morales, a Community Health Worker in Frederick
You can find a sample caption in English and in Spanish, and quotes from other community health workers from the Asian American Center of Frederick (AACF) in the content folder

How to Use the Content

  1. Go to the COVID-19 Vaccine Communications Resources folder

  2. Open the subfolder called "1. Start Here Dissemination plan"

  3. Read the documents "A. Start Here" and "Dissemination Plan_LHICs and HDs" for an overview of the content and best practices for using it

  4. Navigate through the remaining subfolders to find, review, and update relevant materials

Important Notes and Disclaimers

All of the content for this project was created between May 2021 to May 2022. Particularly for the social media content, you should review the material for accuracy and update it accordingly before posting or distributing it.

You can customize some of the social media content in PowerPoint using the instructions in the dissemination plan. Other materials in the folder are customizable templates in the free photo editing and graphic design website Canva. You can find instructions on editing the Canva templates in the Customizable Community Messaging Campaigns document.

Funding Statement

Research and materials reported in this summary were supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under award number 6 U48DP006382-02-02. Total CDC funds were $500,000. The content is solely the responsibility of the Horowitz Center team and does not necessarily represent the official views of CDC.

Lifting All Voices to Improve Health Literacy

This project's content was developed as part of a collaboration to improve access to culturally and linguistically appropriate COVID-19 information in plain language to residents of Frederick, Maryland. The cultural and language groups served include Spanish, French, Burmese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Russian, Gujarati, Korean, and Urdu.

The folder for this project contains

  • Social media posts and graphics
  • Print materials (flyers)
  • Quote cards (local community leaders pictured with a quote encouraging COVID-19 vaccination)

Sample Content

The logos on the graphics are cut off so the graphics will display properly on this page. The downloadable versions in the content folder will not have have anything cut off..

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A smiling elementary school aged Chinese boy flexes his arm which has a band-aid on it. Speech bubbles in Mandarin around him translate to "COVID-19 Vaccines...are safe and effective for children ages 6 months through 17 years."
A sample social media graphic for Facebook. The graphic and suggested caption are available in Mandarin and English and sized for WhatsApp.
Safety for children
The Mandarin text on the graphic translates to "COVID-19 vaccines … are safe and effective for children ages 6 months through 17 years." Similar versions of the graphic are available in at least one other language. Check out the content folder for more social media graphics and suggested captions.
A pregnant Latina woman smiles down at her baby bump. Speech bubbles around her are in Spanish and translates to "The Frederick County Health Department...recommends COVID-19 vaccination for people who are pregnant and/or breastfeeding."
A sample social media graphic for Facebook. The graphic and suggested caption are available in Spanish and English and sized for WhatsApp..
Safety for Pregnant People
The Spanish text on the graphic translates to "The Frederick County Health Department … recommends COVID-19 vaccination for people who are pregnant and/or breastfeeding." Similar versions of the graphic are available in at least one other language. Check out the content folder for more social media graphics and suggested captions.
Photo of a smiling older adult Burmese couple. The woman leans against the man's shoulder affectionately and he places his hand on her arm. Text around the couple in speech bubbles is written in Burmese and translates to "Vaccine side effects...are a normal sign your body is building protection."
A sample social media graphic for Facebook. The graphic and suggested caption are available in Burmese and English and sized for WhatsApp.
Side effects
The Burmese text on the graphic translates to "Side effects are … a normal sign your body is building protection." Similar versions of the graphic are available in at least one other language. Check out the content folder for more social media graphics and suggested captions.

How to Use the Content

  1. Go to the Lifting All Voices materials for public use folder
  2. Open any of the three subfolders for the different content types
  3. Open the document labeled "START HERE" for a library of the content in the subfolder and guidance on how to post it (for social media and quote cards content)

Important Notes and Disclaimers

This content was developed in response to common concerns about COVID-19 vaccines within different language communities in Frederick, so not every post is available in every language. Also, some of the materials do make specific references to Frederick, but the messages are broad enough that you may find the helpful regardless of where your focus population is located.

Please note that

  • Social media content is available in Burmese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish, with English counterparts to every graphic
  • Flyers are available in Burmese, Chinese, English, French, Gujarati, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese
  • Quote cards are available in Burmese and Spanish

Video content will be added soon to this folder.

Funding statement

The Lifting All Voices project is for the Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19 grant to the UMD Horowitz Center for Health Literacy. The project was supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health under award number 1 CPIMP211296-01-00. OMH provided 100% of the $1,874,571 total project costs. The content is solely the responsibility of the Horowitz Center and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Minority Health.

Older COVID-19 Health Information

COVID-19 Vaccine Hot Topics

August 2021 to May 2022

The research team for the COVID-19 vaccine communication project regularly posts a newsletter with trending topics about the COVID-19 vaccines. These “Hot Topics” inform community leaders about the latest vaccine news and guide conversations about the shots with their communities.

Deciding on Activities in the Time of COVID-19

Nov 13, 2020 - Published to Twitter and YouTube

View the full Deciding on Activities in the Time of COVID-19 playlist on YouTube. Young adults' lives changed dramatically with COVID-19, especially as their typical social activities come with higher risk. The Horowitz Center for Health Literacy produced a series of short animations encouraging young adults, especially college students, to consider six specific factors before participating in activities like attending parties, dining outdoors, and hanging out at a friend's house. While the animations depict six activities, young adults can use the six factors to make decisions about any activity.