Seth MacFarlane and the “Family Guy” producers have created an educational PSA video encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
In the three-minute video, Peter Griffin debates whether or not to get vaccinated at the doctor’s office, so Stewie and Brian Griffin explain the science behind the COVID vaccine, combining typical “Family Guy” humor and real educational facts.
Stewie and Brian shrink down microscopically to enter Peter’s body, where they explain how the vaccine combats the virus.
“Vaccines protect us from illnesses by activating our immune response without the danger of actual infection, thereby training the body to fight off the real thing. Some of the COVID vaccines work by exposing your immune system to proteins, which resemble the spike proteins of the virus but cannot infect you,” Stewie says, as anthropomorphic antibodies fight off spike proteins that look like Meg Griffin. He and Brian go on to explain how the vaccine stops an actual COVID infection, lessens the symptoms and protects nearby people from COVID as well. Satisfied with their explanation, Peter gets the vaccine.
“We were proud to work with some of the nation’s leading immunologists and epidemiologists on this PSA. And while we never understood a single note they gave us, we took them all,” said “Family Guy” executive producers and showrunners Rich Appel and Alec Sulkin in a statement.
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The PSA was written by Macfarlane, who voices the characters, the “Family Guy” writers and a team of scientific experts and epidemiologists. It was produced by Fuzzy Door, 20th Television Animation, FOX Entertainment and the Ad Council’s “It’s Up to You” COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative.
Watch the “Family Guy” video below.
