US Turns to Social Media Influencers to Persuade the Unvaccinated

The US, where more than 70% of citizens have had at least one vaccination against the coronavirus, is still at risk as the Delta variant of the virus makes it way across the nation – leading the authorities to turn to social media to help stem the tide.

Since minorities are less likely to have been vaccinated, state and local authorities are hoping social media influencers from those demographics can help persuade the hesitant to take the leap and get their shots.

A police sergeant in a rural town, Carlos Cornejo has quite a following on Twitter and other social media, counting 650,000 followers on his Spanish-language account alone. That made him the target for Colorado officials, who saw him as a great source for the community-based gentle persuasion that they had in mind.

Social Media Vaccination Campaigns Target Hesitant Groups

And Cornejo, who is 32, is only one of a small army of social media users and influencers who are taking part in this “soft power” campaign, meant to push those who still have hesitations regarding the vaccines to make the decision to protect themselves.

A wide range of people, including religious leaders, busy moms, fashionistas and other bloggers are being used to spread the word about the importance of becoming vaccinated while the Delta variant continues to spread around the globe.

The state of Colorado is using the hashtag #PowertheComeback as a way to encourage  Latino, Black, Native American, Asian and other minorities that tend to be slightly more hesitant to receiving the vaccines.

While many may with good reason balk at the concept of federal workers or health authorities knocking on our collective doors, everyone seems to agree that a social media campaign involving persuasion on the part of respected community members is much more palatable.

Both states and cities have signed on to the campaign in places like Chicago, Oklahoma City, San Jose, California, New Jersey.

Lotteries, Scholarships, Other Giveaways Part of Ongoing Vaccination Campaign as Well

By now, many states have held vaccine lotteries, giveaways, given away scholarships and done nearly everything in their power to encourage inoculations. Still there remains a sizable portion of the American public that remains wary of the vaccines.

As of Tuesday, 167 million Americans are fully vaccinated — amounting to 50.8% — while just over 70% of those eligible have received at least one shot. Still, that leaves many millions still vulnerable to the virus, especially the much more virulent Delta variant.

The effort comes after Colorado and other states have tried lotteries, college scholarships and other incentives to boost slumping vaccination rates as the highly contagious delta virus variant sweeps the nation.

Cornejo’s Facebook page has now become a go-to source for reliable information regarding the vaccine — as well as what law enforcement can and cannot do about those who choose to remain unvaccinated.

The new social media influencer tells the Associated Press in an interview “It started last year when I saw misinformation that directly affected our department, rumors like police were arresting people without a mask.”

The 10-year veteran who works at the Rifle Police Department adds that he has also heard rumors to the effect that “people get magnetized when they’re vaccinated. Sometimes people are just plain scared. I give them fact-based information, nothing political about it, so they can make an informed decision.”

Mandatory Vaccination Rulings May Be Needed Impetus to Become Inoculated

Despite the pervasive influence of social media in our lives today, it is still unknown of course if the campaigns will have any effect on those who are hesitant.

Jeff Niederdeppe, the director of Cornell University’s Health Communication Research Initiative and co-director of The Cornell Center for Health Equity “I’m highly skeptical you can get enough appeal to the remaining 30% of adults who after all this time have not gotten the vaccine — it’s a lot to ask of an influencer.”

At this point, he added, the almost-daily announcements that employees need to be vaccinated in order to work at many major businesses and government agencies might be more likely to do the trick.

But the state of Colorado believes so strongly in the social media blitz that it is now paying what it calls “citizen social influencers” up to $1,000 a month to share their vaccination stories and information on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and other platforms.

These individuals not only post about their own vaccine experiences — including some that admit they have had some minor side effects — but also dispel vaccine rumors and misinformation. They also alert their followers to pop-up vaccine clinics in their communities and show them where and how to access information that is already provided by state health authorities.

Marketing Firms Identify Social Media Influencers, Target Messages

Marketing firms are in on the campaign as well, hired by health agencies to first find the most visible influencers in a given community and then to coordinate their messaging.

Denver-based The Idea Marketing, California-based Xomad and Chicago-based Res Publica Group are among these entities.

The well-coordinated efforts even include Xomad’s development of a platform by which influencers, content creators and health officials can immediately change messaging to respond to events, including the pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as to address online misinformation or just an expansion in the age groups that are eligible for shots.

And all this effort has already paid off, according to Xomad’s CEO and founder Rob Perry.

He tells the Associated press that notes that last month’s study by the Knight Foundation and the city of San Jose, California found a direct correlation between a flood of local influencer’s Instagram posts and higher daily vaccination rates.

Perry states “Even in Silicon Valley they needed help reaching the immigrant, Black, Latino and Vietnamese communities. No one’s bashing anti-vaxxers over the head. The last thing these trusted messengers want to do is polarize their followers. It’s their followers’ choice.”

Health officials have stated that the so-called “nano” and “micro” influencers, ordinary citizens who have fewer than 10,000 and 100,000 followers respectively, are in the best position to reach those in Generation Z, as well as millennials who for the most part consume their news via social media.

Social Media Messages Change with Current News, Developments

The same techniques were employed by the Oklahoma City County Health Department late last year, when they hired Xomad to recruit local influencers to speak about ways in which their followers could celebrate safe holidays at home, according to agency spokeswoman Molly Fleming.

The campaign saw alterations with changes in the rollout of vaccines, and could very well change again with the possible addition of booster shots, she added.

Pandora Marie, an Oklahoman who is a street dancer and artist of Chicana, Chickasaw and Choctaw descent, who has 30,000 followers on Instagram, is one of the citizen army who is trying to use their social media power for good.

She imbues her messaging with references to Native American culture as well as dance, she says. “When I started to share the COVID posts, I had people asking questions, which is always a good sign,” she told interviewers.

Xomad spokeswoman Fleming admitted that it’s hard to measure just how many vaccinations among 18- to 29-year-olds and minorities result from this campaign, however.

Still, officials can literally see and track the public interactions with influencers’ posts, “and when you’re spending public health dollars, that’s important,” she explains. “If we pay for a billboard, we don’t know if you’ve seen it or if it changed your life at all.”

“I Compare it to Wearing a Seat Belt”

The Cook County Health Department in Chicago is collaborating with young people such as McKinley Nelson, an activist who uses basketball and entertainment to steer youth away from street violence. The Department’s #MyShot campaign encouraging 18- to 34-year-olds in black and Hispanic communities to get the vaccine, will soon be rebranded as “Life is Better Vaxxed.”

Using a multilayered communications strategy, the department also runs vaccine information advertisements at gas stations and barber shops, and even slaps its message on coasters in bars, according to Cook County Health spokeswoman Caryn Stancik.

She states “Our digital strategy targets individual neighborhoods and zip codes, and in these communities we layer in as many strategies as we can to help get people vaccinated and address misinformation.

“I don’t want to say this alone will work,” Stancik adds. “But people are coming to hundreds of pop-up local clinics based on digital word of mouth, so the information is resonating.”

Sergeant Cornejo, posting out of his Rifle, Colorado home, built his sizable Facebook following, which far exceeds the population of his town of 9,700, with videos largely centering on police work. He also portrays himself playing his guitar and singing ballads, which endears him to so many followers, part of what he now considers to be his extended family.

He told interviewers that “I got COVID last year and shared that experience. Is the vaccine going to protect you 100% of the time? No. But I compare it to wearing a seat belt — it doesn’t ensure nothing bad will happen, but your chances of saving your life are a lot higher.”