The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched a new ad campaign Monday to encourage Americans to get vaccinated against Swine Flu.

The campaign, titled “Together We Can All Fight the Flu,” will feature television, radio, online and outdoor banner public service announcements that target specific at-risk groups, such as pregnant women and young people, as well as the general public. HHS will also release Spanish-language versions of several ads.

Stephanie Marquis, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said campaigns like these are a good way to get information out to the public.

The state launched a similar public health ad campaign Nov. 30, which particularly targets children and families. She added 74 percent of H1N1 cases have been in people age 24 and younger.

“We know younger children and adults are getting hit harder,” Marquis said. “This campaign is really just trying to make everyone aware that the vaccine is available.”

Marquis said Wisconsin’s $500,000 campaign is being funded by federal H1N1 response dollars and uses a combination of television, radio and online ads. Like the federal campaign, some of the ads will be in other languages, such as Spanish and Hmong.

“Obviously there’s the need to make people aware that the vaccine is safe, effective and certainly much more available in Wisconsin than it was before,” Marquis said.

She added although it is still too early to tell how successful the campaign will be, they have already received positive feedback from people who have seen the television ads.

Director of University Health Services Sarah Van Orman said she also believes the federal H1N1 ad campaign is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the vaccine.

“I’m very supportive of getting as many people vaccinated as possible.” Van Orman said. “I think it’s the right thing to do.”

For the last several months, Van Orman said health care officials have had to make people wait for the vaccine until enough supplies were accessible. Now that the vaccine is finally available, she said the federal campaign will be a good way to get people interested again.

“What we were afraid of is that a lot of people have lost interest or they think it’s not important now,” Van Orman said. “It’s important to try to remind people that they can come in and get vaccinated now.”

Although Van Orman said she believes the campaign is a good idea, she added promoting the H1N1 vaccine is especially difficult.

“I think it’s a little bit harder in this particular case to encourage people because a lot of people have gotten mixed messages about the vaccine,” Van Orman said. “It’s difficult to get a new message out.”

According to Van Orman, UHS has vaccinated about 4,500 people so far and will continue to offer vaccinations into next semester.

“We’re going to keep encouraging students to come in, anytime,” Van Orman said.