IDF joins Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani for new campaign

Despite what some people may think, the COVID-19 pandemic is still here. And some 2 million immunocompromised Americans continue to struggle to protect themselves. That’s why the Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) has collaborated with Up The Antibodies: a campaign aimed at informing those who are immunocompromised about additional options for COVID-19 protection beyond vaccines, masking, and social distancing. With resources from Up The Antibodies, immunocompromised patients may finally be able to get back to doing more of the things they love.

As part of this campaign, Tracy Shaw, caregiver of her immunocompromised daughter and Board Chair of IDF, and Tammy Black, Vice President of Communications and Marketing at IDF, sat down with two champions of the immunocompromised community— Academy Award^®-nominated writer and producer Emily V. Gordon, who happens to be immunocompromised, and her husband and caregiver Kumail Nanjiani, Academy Award^®-nominated producer and actor.

When asked what made her decide to advocate for others like her, Emily replies, “I hadn’t seen anyone addressing me and the immunocompromised community.” There has been a distinct lack of support for this community that Up The Antibodies aims to address by building awareness around what this group of people is going through. Not to mention the caregivers around them who must be cautious as well, like Kumail who remarks, “Thirty percent of my brain at all times is just thinking about how to make sure Emily doesn’t get [COVID-19].”

More than ever, this community needs support as COVID-19 health and safety measures continue to fall by the wayside, and those who are immunocompromised are forgotten. Kumail says, “We’re in this phase where everyone thinks the pandemic is over.”

Those who are immunocompromised need support through this pandemic from healthcare providers and, perhaps more poignantly, they need to feel empowered enough to be their own backers as well. On this, Emily remarks, “I realized I had to advocate for myself… I wanted to be able to expand my world to be a little bit more than what it has been the past couple of years. And I’m happy to—with tools—be able to do that.”

For more information and resources on how you can protect yourself or a loved one from COVID-19, visit UpTheAntibodies.com.