Olivia Rodrigo urges fans to get the coronavirus vaccine; White House reaches out to Gen Z

WHITE HOUSE

Olivia Rodrigo gave a brief statement to the White House press corps.

Seven months into 2021, it is safe to say that Olivia Rodrigo is having one helluva year. Starting with No. 1 hits on the music charts and a No. 1 debut album, the young Filipino American pop star went to the White House to help out President Biden reach Gen Z.

The 18-year old singer/songwriter visited the White House to tape messages to her 28 million social media followers to encourage them to get one of the coronavirus vaccines.

“I’m in awe of the work President Biden and Dr. Fauci have done, and was happy to help lend my support to this important initiative,” Rodrigo said from prepared statements to the the White House press.

“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, given how many sites we have and how easy it is to find them at vaccines.gov.”

Olivia’s role will be to “record videos about the importance of young people getting vaccinated, including answering important questions young people have about getting vaccinated,” said a White House official.

The teen pop artist and actress met with the media and was given a tour of the West Wing by Dr. Fauci before greeting the President. During the tour, she took the time to take selfies with some of the younger staff.

The Filipino American artist Olivia Rodrigo posted tweeted this photo.

Rodrigo’s pending PSAs are a part of the government’s efforts to encourage 18- to 29-year-olds to get one of the vaccines. This has included rolling out campaigns on social media apps like Facebook FB, -1.27%, Instagram and Twitter, as well as on gaming services such as Riot Games and Twitch, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone over the age of 12 get a COVID-19 vaccination, specifying that anyone over 12 can get the Pfizer-BioNTech shots. While the CDC notes that infections in young people are less common than in adults, it’s still possible to get infected or sick or spread the virus even if you’re young.

The initial traditional outreach involved mostly state health departments and news stations, overlooking platforms where Generation Z spends the most time, such as TikTok and Instagram. In response, the Biden administration has been making a concerted effort to connect with this audience, first with Fauci hosting 2-minute interviews with young influencers, rattling off quotes like “tell all your TikTok buddies to get vaccinated.”

 “The Biden-Harris Administration is making a continued push to get more young people vaccinated, including working with schools, pediatricians, summer camps and leveraging social media and celebrity influencers,” Rodrigo’s representative said. “To build on this success, we are bringing multi-platinum recording artist Olivia Rodrigo to campus, one of the most popular singer/songwriters today, especially with young people.”

Below, is Olivia's first message sent out on Tik Tok: