Biden Administration Launches Campaign to Convince Americans to Get Experimental COVID-19 Booster Shot

Now that the election is over, the Biden administration has returned its focus to COVID-19 vaccines, announcing a six-week vaccination campaign aimed at convincing Americans to get their experimental booster shots before the end of the year.

The White House on Tuesday said the focus of the campaign will be on seniors and high-risk Americans and raising awareness through paid media.

“Please, for your own safety, for that of your family, get your updated COVID-19 shot as soon as you’re eligible to protect yourself, your family, and your community,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said during the last White House press briefing before his retirement.

According to the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is launching new national and local TV, radio and print ads geared at reaching Black and Latino audiences in more than 30 markets in English and Spanish.

Football and country music-themed radio ads aimed at reaching rural communities will run in 15 local markets, and print, radio, digital and social media ads will run in 25 markets targeting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander audiences in seven languages.

New social and digital ads will run on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat and Reddit. The ads “highlight the importance of getting the updated vaccine to protect the ones we love and the protection the updated COVID-19 vaccines offer against Omicron,” even though it’s been publically acknowledged the shots do not prevent COVID-19, do not stop transmission and may subject an individual to an increased risk of getting the virus.

HHS will also launch the #VaxUpAmerica family vaccine tour — a “new push to encourage families to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine for maximum protection going into the winter and holiday season.”

As part of this tour, HHS will work with national and community-based organizations and others to reach families with [mis]information on COVID-19 vaccines. Pop-up vaccination events will be held at Head Start locations, nursing homes and community health centers across the U.S.  

The Biden administration is also calling business leaders to “do their part” to get Americans to take the experimental bivalent booster and released a “fall playbook for businesses” to help employers manipulate their workers into getting vaccinated.

Biden also called on every U.S. school district, college and university to host at least one vaccination clinic by Thanksgiving.

The government has purchased 171 million doses of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine with U.S. tax dollars, but so far, uptake of the experimental shot has been extremely low.