President and first lady Jill Biden has tapped on a video message thanking health care workers who will be shown ahead of the game, according to a source familiar with the plans. An administration official told CNN that the White House also hoped to use this Sunday’s event to counter vaccination delays and speak to the African American, Latino and white, non-mascara rural communities in particular. The Super Bowl provides “an exciting opportunity for these three audiences to reach,” the official said.
The White House has been discussing with the NFL and other Super Bowl-affiliated brands on ways to incorporate pro-mask and pro-vaccine messages into the much-watched event, one said. White House officer. They declined to elaborate on the extent of the White House’s co-operation with the league or certain companies.
The Super Bowl weekend messaging strategy is part of a broad national campaign that the Biden administration is trying to develop to persuade sensible behavior and encourage Americans to get the Covid vaccine when it comes to in. He has consulted with behavioral economists and messaging strategists, an administration official said, and is constantly monitoring polls on the issue. Biden ‘s main support has also been considering people in whom the public can trust – some celebrities among them – who may be able to help spread their message in the future.
This comes on the heels of Biden’s deep concern over the past few days when he received information from his top health advisors based on questions about the speed and accessibility of Covid vaccines, the official said.
“It tells me exactly. How fast can we go? How fast can we get people?” how the official outlined some of the most pressing issues the President is asking his Covid top advisers. “How do we get it for everyone – not just the easy ones?”
In particular, Biden hit a tone of optimism in public last week when he said he was optimistic that the United States could administer 1.5 million vaccine views per day in a matter of weeks. His previous goal was to gain 1 million views in arms every day for the first 100 days of his presidency. Biden also said that anyone wanting a vaccine could get one this spring – a more ambitious timeline than some of his top health officials had previously predicted.
At the time, his supporters claimed that the White House’s official goal was still to manage 1 million views per day, and that Biden was simply expressing the hope that there would be “more access” of vaccines in the spring. An administration official told CNN that Biden Covid ‘s team had not planned on the President sharing these specific resolutions publicly.
“He expects it to go up,” the official said of the number of vaccines given each day. “It pushes and hopes.”
On Thursday, more than 35 million doses of the Covid vaccine were given, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with about 6.9 million people receiving two doses of the vaccine.
At a public meeting Wednesday, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky urged Americans to watch Sunday’s game sensibly.
“Remember – no matter what team you root for and whatever trade you prefer, check out the Super Bowl safely, gathering almost exclusively or with the people you live with. , “Walensky said.
The NFL, for its part, has consulted with public health officials in preparation for the weekend, and has announced a set of protocols including mandatory mascara wear and social distance to prevent the spread Covid at a game this weekend. It has also invited around 7,500 vaccine health care workers to the game to honor their continued work through the pandemic. According to the NFL, about 14,500 people will attend through general admission, and another 2,700 fans in stadium rooms.
Goodell also wrote to Biden in a letter Thursday that all NFL teams would be donating their stadium for mass vaccination to the public. The Biden administration has said the development of such a vaccine site will be a key part of their effort to increase the speed of Covid vaccines.
Joe Lockhart, a veteran of the Clinton administration who was also a senior leader for the National Football League, said the Super Bowl was a “single event” in American culture that provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity. to capture an audience.
“There’s nothing else like it. There’s nowhere else to sell your cars or educate the public,” Lockhart said. “So I think it’s a great opportunity for the public health community to get their message across including the White House.”
The White House has long made it clear that combating vaccine delay by addressing concerns among Americans about whether Covid vaccines are safe and effective is a top priority in immunization. fight the pandemic.
That effort has become even more urgent with changes of the virus first detected in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa appearing throughout the United States. Biden ‘s top health officials have stressed that in the past few days the best way to stop the spread of the new vaccine variants is to give the American public as soon as possible.
Another upcoming challenge for the Biden administration is the agreement that a third vaccine would be expected for use in the United States from Johnson & Johnson. Tests have shown that the one-dose vaccine has a lower level of efficacy than the two already given in the US – manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer – and the administration is trying to suspect raised regarding the worth of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine intake.
“You need to get the vaccine when it is available as soon as possible,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical consultant for Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, said this week. . “You stop the reproduction by vaccinating widely … When the vaccine is available to you, get the vaccine.”
The administration must also ensure that there is ultimately an adequate supply of vaccines to allow for a significant increase in the speed of receiving shots to arms – in particular, to meet the goal of vaccinating almost all of the U.S. population. before late summer or early fall. Biden announced last week that an additional 200 million doses of vaccine would be purchased.
Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris received their Covid vaccines a few weeks ago in front of cameras in an effort to help fight vaccine laziness.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a recent press release that many celebrities have offered to help speak out publicly about the safety of Covid vaccines.
“Great. We welcome that,” Psaki said. “But what’s interesting about the data is that local doctors and local officials – you know, people from the community – are usually the most trusted people, so we’re really trying to empower the be able to fund local communities to be able to be speakers to build that trust. “
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.