V for vaccination! V for victory!
Just like her favourite superhero, Morgan MacFarlane is fighting to defeat a scourge attacking humankind. Captain America’s foes, at least in the movie Captain America: the First Avenger, are Nazis. Morgan’s is COVID-19.
The reason Morgan has taken on this cause is simple.
“I can’t do all the stuff I want to do (since the pandemic),” said the 10-year-old from Saskatoon. “Like hockey got cancelled, but then it opened again, but I had to wear a mask.”
Another thing she hasn’t been able to do is attend comic book conventions, including the one in Edmonton earlier this month. She had planned to cosplay as her superhero until the event was cancelled.
She and her step-dad, Steven Boyd, had assembled her costume based on the “First Avenger” movie, set in the Second World War: a bomber jacket, a shield bearing the stars and stripes, a helmet, goggles and the superhero’s signature shirt.
She loves Captain America because “he’s a cool superhero and he helps people.”
When the convention was cancelled, Morgan’s disappointment was super-sized. “It’s hard to see your child hurting,” said Boyd. “The pandemic has been hard on everybody,” said Boyd.
Boyd and Julie MacFarlane, Morgan’s mom, decided to make the set-back a teaching moment.
“I took the angle that Captain America doesn’t just fight bad guys. He’s also a leader and he helps inspire people,” said Boyd. “I said, ‘Why don’t we do a war time campaign on social media?’ “ featuring Morgan as Captain America. “It’s like an old war bonds campaign you’d see in the 1940s.”
Julie MacFarlane, Morgan’s mom, thought this was a great idea. She said the war bonds campaign, which got people to invest in the war effort, was not unlike the vaccination drive taking place now.
“We feel this is a war we’re fighting right here,” she said. “In this war, we have superheroes, like front-line workers – nurses, doctors – and we need to provide support to them. That goes hand-in-hand with the campaign.”
That’s how Morgan’s “V for Vaccination! V for Victory!” initiative was born.
Since mid-September, Morgan and her family have been encouraging people to get vaccinated and show their support for vaccination by sharing a photo or videos of themselves holding up their index and middle fingers in the shape of a V to represent both vaccination and victory.
They’ve reached out to friends and family along with prominent care providers and local celebrities – all of whom have been happy to support the cause.
Among them are Saskatoon Mayor, Charlie Clark; Dr. Susan Shaw, Saskatchewan Health Authority’s chief medical health officer; Dr. Katherine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association; Dr. Hassan Masri, an intensive care specialist in Saskatoon; as well as several firefighters and her hockey coach, who is also a City of Saskatoon police officer. The photos and videos are posted on Boyd’s Facebook page. Those interested in participating in Morgan's campaign are encouraged to go to @KIDCAPYXE.
Morgan’s dream is to one day meet the actor Chris Evans, who played Captain America in the “First Avenger” movie, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Morgan said her initiative is important because, “kids like me can’t get vaccinated. We need to encourage the adults around us to get vaccinated. It keeps your friends and family safe.”
Although Morgan is too young to get vaccinated, she is eager for that time to come.
“Morgan has made it abundantly clear that when she’s eligible, she’ll be first in line,” said Boyd.