The U.S. Government has launched a new technology push to boost the COVID-19 vaccination drive among younger people. It includes Snapchat Lenses, which has President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and others. They share information about vaccination and how people can get the shot.

“Starting Wednesday, Snapchat users will be able to use an augmented reality lens that features President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and viral immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett answering questions about the vaccine. […] The Snapchat experience also includes an augmented reality call from Harris, who shares a link to vaccines.gov – where Snapchat users can find their nearest vaccination site.” – As reported by CNN.

The U.S. Government has collaborated with Snapchat for the vaccination push is because of Snapchat’s rising influence, with Snapchat reporting that it reaches close to 90% of 13-24 year-olds in the U.S.

The Government is also working with Instagram and TikTok to raise awareness, yet Snap building dedicated AR Lenses highlights the significance of Snap’s presence in this respect and the power of augmented reality.

“AR adoption is tracking with the mobile usage boom we saw in the mid-2000s: By 2025, nearly 75% of the global population and almost all smartphone users will be frequent AR users.” – Snap commissioned data.

The aim of that research was to highlight the importance of augmented reality for e-Commerce, but as demonstrated with this drive, it also has the potential for information sharing and creating messages which are more likely to engage the younger generation.

It is an unusual experiment, and hopefully, Snap will also provide information on user engagement with these AR Lenses and how that then relates to consequent vaccine take-up as a result.

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