Olivia Rodrigo boosts White House youth vaccine push

WASHINGTON (AP) — Olivia Rodrigo wants people to know that the COVID-19 vaccines are “good 4 u.”

The 18-year-old pop star and internet sensation was at the White House on Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci as part of the administration’s efforts to encourage younger Americans to roll up their sleeves and get a coronavirus shot.

Rodrigo, who rose to fame as a Disney Channel star, was set to tape a joint social media message with the president and the nation’s top infectious disease expert on Wednesday afternoon. She also made an appearance at the start of the daily White House press briefing “to help spread the message of the importance of youth vaccination.”

“It’s important to have conversations with friends and family members encouraging all communities to get vaccinated,” she said. She encouraged people to use https://vaccines.gov to find their nearest vaccination clinic and access information about the vaccines.

Rodrigo’s visit comes as the Biden administration is focusing its efforts on turning out people ages 12 to 27 to get a shot. While these younger Americans are at lower risk of serious outcomes or death from the coronavirus, the White House says the only way to be completely safe — and to protect their families — is to get a shot.

As the highly transmissible delta variant surges in communities with lower vaccination rates, the administration sees vaccinating the highly mobile age cohort as critical to slowing the now-dominant strain’s spread.