A growing number of Generation Z members – those born between 1995 and 2012 – are experiencing a lack of access to consumable and credible COVID-19 content on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, STAT reports.
Five things to know:
1. Twenty-one percent of Gen Zers said they would not get the COVID-19 vaccine, while another said they would wait and see before getting vaccinated, according to a recent STAT-Harris poll.
2. Public health officials told the publication that the issue of increasing vaccine reluctance among young people can be solved with a coordinated campaign of useful and credible information that makes young people want to get vaccinated. However, the same officials said much of the groundwork for messaging to young people is yet to be done.
3. Gabrielle Kalisz, a 22-year-old who has been vaccinated and lives in Washington, D.C., told STAT "There isn't anything that is consumable and/or targeted at our demographic. All the messaging online … isn't targeted toward our age group, it doesn't explain why, if you're a healthy 19-year-old, you should get this vaccine."
4. While public health officials haven't launched any specific campaigns targeting young people online, some Gen Zers have started their own organization efforts.
5. Jordan Tralins, a 19-year-old from St. Petersburg, Fla., started the COVID Campus Coalition at her college, Cornell University. The campaign shares infographics that answer common vaccine questions; more than 20 universities have now joined the coalition.