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Biden, Fauci join forces with YouTubers to combat Gen-Z vaccine hesitancy

President Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci were interviewed by popular YouTubers, including social advocate and makeup artist Jackie Aina, to encourage members of Gen-Z to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

Video transcript

JACKIE AINA: Hi, Mr. President. How are you?

JOE BIDEN: We're doing well. Doing well. Good to see you. How you doing?

JACKIE AINA: I'm doing good. I'm very pleased to be talking to you and Dr. Fauci. Thank you so much for allowing me this opportunity.

JOE BIDEN: I understand you have some questions.

JACKIE AINA: Yes, I do. I'll jump right in. What do you say to folks who are fearful of the COVID-19 vaccine?

ANTHONY FAUCI: The science behind both the safety and the efficacy of the vaccine is truly extraordinary. We never put people down for asking questions about their concerns about the vaccine, but they need to know that the science that went into it is absolutely pristine. This is the result of decades of very intensive basic and clinical research.

JOE BIDEN: It is all about protecting other people, too. It's not just about you, it's about your obligation.

JACKIE AINA: Absolutely. That's something that I think about constantly. Like, at 33, I'm like, I don't have any preexisting conditions, so I want to be forthcoming and think about other people. So I totally [INAUDIBLE]. My next question, in a country where communities of color, specifically Black communities, don't have equitable access to health care resources, how can we ensure that these communities have access to the vaccines?

JOE BIDEN: When I set up this commission that we put together that Dr. Fauci is the best-known member of it, I asked one person to do nothing but deal with equity. What we found out was that an awful lot of African-Americans, especially older African-Americans, may live theoretically within five, seven miles of a drugstore, but guess what? That might well be 500 miles of drugstore. They have no way of getting there. Not all, but many don't. And so how do we get the vaccine to them, or them to where the vaccine is? So we vastly expanded where we made the vaccine available, to 80,000 sites. We put mobile units. If you can't get to them, they can't get to the site, the site can go to them.

JACKIE AINA: Thank you [INAUDIBLE] Mr. President, for just taking the time. These are issues that mean a lot to me and my community and my audience. And also thank you for your time, Dr. Fauci. This is awesome. Thank you again for [INAUDIBLE] answer my questions.