Monique Mulima
On 14th July 2021, President Biden met with teen pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo in an effort to get more young people in the U.S. vaccinated against Covid-19.
Olivia Rodrigo Speaks to the Youth
Currently only 52% of 18-24 year-olds in the U.S. have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and it drops down to 41% for 12-17 year-olds. Young people are lagging behind in U.S. vaccination rates with 66% of the eligible population having at least one dose. The White House brought in singer Olivia Rodrigo to discuss getting youth vaccinated and create a series of videos about this.
“It’s important to have conversations with friends and family members encouraging all communities to get vaccinated, and actually get to a vaccination site, which you can do more easily than ever before”
Olivia Rodrigo has a large youth fan base. Starting as a Disney channel star and Tik Toker, and having chart topping songs like Driver’s Licence and a Billboard #1 album Sour. Rodrigo met with Biden, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and CDC Director Dr Fauci, delivering an address encouraging young people to get vaccinated.
Rodrigo delivered her message to the White House Press saying, “It’s important to have conversations with friends and family members encouraging all communities to get vaccinated, and actually get to a vaccination site, which you can do more easily than ever before.” Following the Press Briefing, Rodrigo also posted to her over 16 million followers on Instagram and Twitter encouraging them to get vaccinated.
Other Instances of Encouragement
Although using influencers to sway the opinion of young people may seem like a newer phenomenon in the age of social media, this is not the first time a celebrity has been used to advance youth vaccination. In 1956 New York City’s Commissioner of Health enlisted the help of rock n’ roll singer Elvis Presley to encourage American youth to get vaccinated against polio. This helped lead to an uptick in youth vaccination against polio.
“The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated”
Many U.S. states and institutions have tried other ways to get young people vaccinated against Covid-19, including colleges and universities . Currently over 600 colleges and universities in the U.S. have required mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for in-person learning and on-campus housing for this upcoming autumn semester, in an effort to reduce COVID-19 outbreaks that plagued many U.S. schools last year.
The White House and the U.S. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) have been ramping up efforts to encourage people to get vaccinated in recent months. This is because as President Biden said, “the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated.” The Associated Press found that 99% of Covid-19 related deaths are among people who are unvaccinated, with vaccines being the main factor in preventing deaths from Covid-19.
Growth in COVID-19 Cases Puts an Importance on Vaccinations
“I mean, political differences are totally understandable and a natural part of the process in any country. But when it comes to a public health issue, in which you’re in the middle of a deadly pandemic and the common enemy is the virus, it just doesn’t make any sense.”
American government vaccination efforts have also focused on the growing number of cases across the U.S. According to the CDC, the weekly average of Covid-19 cases for the week of July 16, 2021 has an increase of 69% over the previous week, with cases rising in all 50 states. With the growth of the Delta variant, encouraging people to get vaccinated has become even more important.
The U.S. started as a leader in vaccination rates, but is now quickly falling behind many countries like Canada, due to the politicisation of the vaccine. Dr Fauci criticised partisan attacks on the vaccine saying, “I mean, political differences are totally understandable and a natural part of the process in any country. But when it comes to a public health issue, in which you’re in the middle of a deadly pandemic and the common enemy is the virus, it just doesn’t make any sense.”
As the pandemic continues to rage on it is necessary for the government to use all of the resources available to it, including celebrities, to try to get as many people as possible vaccinated to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Featured image courtesy of Brano on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Monique Mulima
Hi I'm Monique. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Communication from Ryerson University. After graduating, I moved from Toronto, Canada to London, UK. I am freelance journalist and I am passionate about politics and current affairs.