Pharmacist Tricia Trueblood with CVS, holds vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, at the Isles of Vero Beach assisted and independent senior living community in Vero Beach, Fla. The government tasked CVS and Walgreens with administering the shots to long-term care locations in nearly every state.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Hospital Association said that 94% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 did not get vaccinated against the virus as the group announced a new initiative to encourage more people to get the shots.

The organization is joining with other healthcare groups for an initiative called ” We Can Do This Alabama ” to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

The grassroots effort is asking Alabamians to sign up to be a local champion and encourage three new people each week to get vaccinated and to recruit others to do the same.

“This is a pivotal moment in ending the pandemic – getting Alabamians vaccinated as quickly as possible is the path out of this crisis,” the Hospital Association said in a press release.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vaccines are effective at preventing nearly all hospitalizations and deaths because of COVID-19. It takes two weeks after a vaccination for a person to build immunity and people are not fully vaccinated until two weeks after their final shot, the CDC cautions.