Olivia Rodrigo Interviewed Dr. Fauci—He Shared Two Big Reasons Why Teens Should Get Vaccinated
It's hard to say who has had the fastest rise to stardom in the past year: Dr. Anthony Fauci (America's favorite doctor) or Olivia Rodrigo (America's favorite multi-talented teen). Between Fauci keeping us safe in 2020 and Rodrigo keeping us teary with her breakup ballads in 2021, these two definitely made their way into America's hearts—and now they're joining forces for a collab we never saw coming.
Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla / Pool
Rodrigo stopped by the White House last week in support of President Joe Biden's initiative to get young Americans vaccinated. While at the White House, Rodrigo spoke to the media from the press room, took some goofy pics with Vice President Kamala Harris and recorded informative videos to encourage vaccination among teenagers, who are now eligible to be vaccinated in the States—one such video paired up Rodrigo and Fauci for a Q & A about the importance of vaccination for teens.
Fauci, like anyone meeting Rodrigo for the first time, was psyched. "The reason why I'm excited, and I know a lot of people are excited about your being here, is that you would fall under the category of what we would call a 'trusted messenger,'" Fauci said.
At the outset of the interview, Rodrigo asked Fauci to explain his two-fold reasoning for encouraging teenagers to get vaccinated—not only to protect themselves, but to protect others around them who could be more vulnerable to COVID-19.
"There is a misperception that young people will never have any problem with COVID-19," Fauci explained. "Statistically, it's less likely for a young person to get a severe outcome from COVID-19, but it isn't zero," he added. And the Delta variants of the virus have posed an elevated risk to teenagers, which means getting vaccinated could be the difference between having a very mild case or needing to go to the hospital.
Related: The CDC Says You Can Start Doing These Activities If You Are Fully Vaccinated
But the big draw for most young people, Fauci said, may be helping to stop the spread to their loved ones. Fauci referred to vaccinated people as a kind of "dead end" for the virus. Vaccinated people who get infected are far less likely to transmit COVID-19, but unvaccinated people who get infected are likely to spread it on to others, even if their case is asymptomatic.
"Nobody's going to want to be a vehicle for a virus to hurt somebody else," Fauci said. "You want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."
Related: Why Dr. Fauci Thinks Herd Immunity Is "Total Nonsense"
Rodrigo also asked Fauci why he believes that young people are hesitant to get vaccinated, and he was quick to point out a problem and its simple solution. "They may think it's inconvenient [to get vaccinated]," Fauci said. "One of the messages that we really want to bring to people, particularly young people, is that it's the easiest thing in the world to get vaccinated… It's easy, and it's free."
Another video filmed the same day shows Rodrigo and Fauci reading tweets about the COVID-19 vaccine—so if you need some entertainment while you recover from your "Fauci ouchie," the White House has you covered.
