Ronn Torossian
Ronn Torossian

In an effort to promote the message that young people should get vaccinated, the White House decided to kickstart a digital PR campaign with the help of digital influencers. Across TikTok, YouTube and Twitch, around 50 different influencers with massive follower counts and audiences that generally consist of young people under 30 will work on promoting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Many people in that age group have been only halfway vaccinated or haven’t been vaccinated at all, which is why the White House decided to pursue the campaign. Similar to the federal government, state and local governments also joined in with similar initiatives, working with local digital influencers, and some locations even offering $1000 per month incentives to encourage young people to receive the vaccine.

Health and government officials have also been communicating with families and parents regarding the importance of young people receiving the vaccine before the school year begins, considering the Delta variant has rapidly spread across the country. This recognition led to singer Olivia Rodrigo visiting the White House last month. During her visit, she had a conversation with the chief medical advisor Dr. Anthonhy Fauci about the vaccines.

Ever since the pandemic began, misinformation regarding the virus and vaccines has been rampant across social media platforms. A number of tech companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook have also been facing pressure for months over the ways they should be policing the spread of misinformation on social media.

This latest campaign from federal, state and local governments comes as new guidelines from the CDC have been slowly introduced across the country, with recommendations that even vaccinated people wear masks, as they’re still able to transmit the virus. Nevertheless, the vaccines are still incredibly effective at preventing people from getting severe cases of COVID-19.

Additionally, several states have also introduced billboard ads in parking lots that play sound bites from various local spokespeople including parents and doctors. Those soundbites include discussions about the effectiveness and the safety of the vaccines, along with reasons why everyone should be getting vaccinated as soon as possible.

Plenty of other countries around the world have also started their own campaigns warning young people that they’ll potentially miss out on different aspects of their lives, such as concert events or film screenings if they remain unvaccinated. This is because a number of countries have announced vaccine certificates as requirements for admission to plenty of locations as their latest set of measures for preventing the spread of the virus.

Although many countries around the world have taken a different promotional route compared to the U.S., it’s one of the few times that the federal government has utilized the opportunity that social media has shown with younger generations.

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Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR.