Olivia Rodrigo to meet with President Biden and Dr. Fauci to promote vaccines

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star Olivia Rodrigo is paying a visit to the White House on Wednesday, July 14 as part of the administration’s effort to promote vaccinations to young Americans.

According to a White House official, the 18-year-old teen pop sensation is going to meet with President Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci to film videos explaining why it is so important for young people to be vaccinated, incorporating a Q&A with fans wanting to learn more.

Rodrigo already had a big fans base from her time on the Disney Channel, but has built an absolutely huge fan bade recently due to her music detailing heartbreak and empowerment. The videos she films with the president and Dr. Fauci will be featured on her social platforms, which are followed by over 28 million people, along with being shared across the various White House social media channels.

Recently, health officials have focused more and more on younger Americans who are hesitant about getting the vaccine. While they do not face as much danger from severe symptoms of COVID-19 as older people, their vaccination is critical to the goal of achieving herd immunity. This is especially true in the face of the highly contagious Delta variant, which is devastating less vaccinated communities in the United States.

A recent poll conducted by NBCLX/Morning Consult found that adults between 18 and 34 are the “most likely generation to say they will either not get vaccinated (23%) or don’t yet know (21%), with Gen Z adults (18-23) particularly disinterested.”

Because key demographics of Americans continue to decline available vaccination, the Biden administration will have increasing difficulty hitting herd immunity benchmarks, further delaying its goal of getting the country back to a pre-pandemic normal. Because of that, they’re doing everything they can to reach younger folks.

The White House has tapped into an all-hands-on-deck strategy to get as many Americans vaccinated as possible. Before their latest collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo, the administration previously partnered with popular YouTubers from both the outdoor and makeup communities to get out the word about vaccines to Gen Z. It also partnered with the dating app Bumble to add a feature that allows users to identify their vaccination status.

“I think it’s an obligation, an obligation to make sure that even if it’s an even small percentage possibility that you could be a carrier and spread the disease, that you have an obligation,” Biden told one YouTube creator during his series of interviews in the spring, adding that Gen Z is “the most generous, the most informed, the most caring generation coming up.”

Hopefully, young people seeing their favorite celebs endorse the vaccine will encourage them to do the same.