Biden administration preps sweeping effort to encourage Americans on vaccines
WASHINGTON — As the Biden administration tries to streamline the federal government’s pandemic response, it’s also gearing up for a sweeping campaign encouraging Americans to get the coronavirus vaccination when it becomes available to them, according to administration officials.That effort for now, however, is narrowly targeted at Americans who are eligible to receive the vaccination — particularly among communities where people may be skeptical of taking the shots — as the government grapples with low supply issues, officials said.“The last thing we want to do is say, ‘Go out and get your shot,’ if there’s no supply,” an administration official explained.Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreakThe targeted campaigns that have already begun in the Biden administration’s initial weeks are largely focused on minorities, and there have been some efforts to address vaccine hesitancy in rural communities and among military families, according to officials.Several new efforts to reduce vaccine hesitancy that the Biden administration initiated are aimed at Black Americans, 43 percent of whom say they want to “wait and see” how the vaccine works for others before getting it themselves, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.For one new effort, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
