Olivia Rodrigo visits White House to record videos promoting COVID-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON - Pop singer and songwriter Olivia Rodrigo made a trip to the White House Wednesday to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, a White House spokesperson confirmed to FOX Television Stations.
The "Drivers License" singer and multi-platform recording artist met with President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci Wednesday, assisting in the administration’s efforts to get more youth vaccinated, as young adults have shown less urgency to get the shots.
During her visit, Rodrigo will record videos "about the importance of young people getting vaccinated." This will include answering questions young people have about getting vaccinated. She also joined White House press secretary Jen Psaki at her daily briefing.
At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Rodrigo addressed reporters.
"I am beyond honored and humbled to be here today to help spread the message about the importance of youth vaccination. I am 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 stated.
"It’s important to have conversations with friends and family members, encouraging all communities to get vaccinated and actually get to a vaccination site that 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.," Rodrigo continued.
The news of her visit was first announced when Biden took to social media Tuesday writing, "We’ve got to get other young people protected as well. Who’s willing to help?"
Rodrigo replied, "I’m in! see you tomorrow at the white house!"
The Biden-Harris administration is making a continued push to get more young people vaccinated, including working with schools, pediatricians and summer camps — and now leveraging social media and celebrity influencers.
The administration has shifted vaccination messaging over the past few weeks to target a group health officials term the "movable middle" — some 55 million unvaccinated adults seen as persuadable, many of them under 30.
"Our work to reach young people where they are with information about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, includes the President’s participation in the YouTube Town Hall with Dr. Fauci which drove millions of views to young people around vaccination efforts," the spokesperson said.
Dr. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, has also participated in several Tik Tok Q&As with young influencers.
Rodrigo is popular, especially with young people, with more than 28 million followers across all channels.
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Her visit comes as the COVID-19 curve in the U.S. is rising again after months of decline, driven largely by the fast-spreading delta variant, lagging vaccination rates and Fourth of July gatherings.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, confirmed infections nearly doubled Monday, climbing to an average of about 23,600 a day.
Meanwhile, the government is still experiencing resistance among some states to get vaccinated.
Nationally, 67.7% of all American adults have received at least one COVID-19 shot and 58.9% of adults are fully vaccinated according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.