YouTube and Snapchat team up with government up to boost vaccine take-up among young Britons
Youtube and Snapchat are among a group of social media platforms to sign up to help the government boost vaccine take-up among 18 to 29-year-olds in England.
The new partnership will see the tech giants use things like stickers, filters and videos to encourage people to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
The platforms involved are Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok and YouTube.
Snapchat users will be able to use NHS stickers, a filter and “an augmented reality lens” that reads “I’ve had my vaccine” for users to share.
YouTube has rolled out the “Let’s Not Go Back” video campaign that will aim to remind its core 18-34 year old audience about why they should get the Covid vaccine by reminding people of what lockdown was like.
The tech giant will also roll out a series of adverts on billboards throughout the country.
Ben McOwen Wilson, UK managing director at YouTube, said: “From billboards to bus stops, online and off, we reached young people wherever they are to raise awareness of the key role they have to play.
“It has been fantastic to witness the public response to our national initiative and to have seen the rates at which young people have stepped up.”
“We have worked closely with social media platforms throughout the pandemic to promote life saving vaccine information, and this new initiative with popular platforms will help drive take-up even higher,” culture secretary Oliver Dowden said.
The latest figures show 81.6 per cent of Britons have received the first Covid vaccine, while 59.5 per cent of all Britons have received two doses.
Everyone over the age of 18 is now eligible for the vaccine in England.
There were some concerns that take-up of the vaccine among under-30s would be low, however there have been few signs of this eventuating in the past few weeks.