Vaccines are now readily available for adults and adolescents in the U.S., a milestone people have been waiting for since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And as more Americans get vaccinated, more states are returning to normalcy, with in-person events returning, fans back in the stands for live sports, and music artists resuming tours. Still, we’re not fully past the pandemic just yet, as public health experts caution that more Americans need to get vaccinated before we can reach herd immunity.
To do its part to spread the word, McDonald’s is releasing a special line of coffee cups and delivery seal stickers encouraging people to get vaccinated.
Starting in July, coffee cups and stickers will feature the phrase “We Can Do This,” a slogan borrowed from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to encourage vaccine confidence in the U.S. The items will also include the vaccines.gov web address to schedule appointments and read safety information.
The slogan will be printed on about 50 million cups nationwide, and McDonald’s will even include vaccine information on its Times Square billboard this month.
“We all want to protect ourselves and our loved ones and be together with our communities again,” Genna Gent, McDonald’s USA vice president for global public policy and government relations, said in a press release. “McDonald’s is excited to be doing our part for the people we serve, providing them with simple information that can help keep them safe.”
It’s a small product that makes a big difference. It puts information right in people’s hands on their commute to work or when food is delivered to their homes.
With vaccination rates dipping after their April peak, officials are hoping that campaigns like this re-energize hesitant Americans to get out and get vaccinated.
Though McDonald’s is collaborating with the Biden administration by using the slogan and linking to government information, a source close to the company told CNN that McDonald’s did not receive any payment from the government for this promotion.
“This is a team effort–it takes all of us,” Gent said. “We’re proud to enter this partnership to provide trusted, independently verified information about COVID-19 vaccines to our customers in the nearly 14,000 communities we serve.”
