White House Launching ‘Targeted Media Blitz’ to Promote Covid-19 Vaccine Eligibility, Including Partnering With Facebook and Twitter

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

The White House is launching a “targeted media blitz” to encourage Americans to get the Covid-19 vaccine starting on Monday, according to a report by Axios. That’s the day when all U.S. residents 16 years of age or older will be eligible for the vaccine.

As Axios’ Sarah Mucha noted, half of American adults have received at least one vaccine dose, “but vaccine hesitancy among the remaining population risks the country achieving herd immunity.”

Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will personally participate in public service announcements, online interviews, and other social media promotion efforts.

Other strategies the Biden Administration plans to use include partnering with Facebook and Twitter to send push notifications about vaccine eligibility, a social media toolkit for local community partners like doctors and churches to use, and administration officials and doctors doing interviews with a wide variety of media outlets, including those that target specific vaccine-hesitant communities, like Blacks, Latinos, and conservatives.

And Dr. Anthony Fauci — who turned 80 years old last December — will reportedly be featured in Snapchat videos, targeting the younger demographic.

Former President Barack Obama has also been active in urging Americans to get their vaccines as soon as possible, most recently joining with Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley in a Twitter video posted on Sunday.

All U.S. residents 16 years of age or older are eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine starting Monday, April 19, and some states have already opened up eligibility. Information about how to obtain a vaccine in your state can be found on the CDC website.