Private corporations have played a major role in the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Retail pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens stood up COVID-19 testing operations quickly at the beginning of the virus’s surge and have since pivoted to offering the free COVID-19 vaccine. Now, McDonald’s is partnering with Biden’s White House to redesign their beverage cups to include a call for customers to get the free vaccine to help put the pandemic behind us.
According to a CNN report, the new McDonald’s coffee cup will appear in stores in July. The fast-food giant is expected to print a limited number of these special cups – only about 50 million will be released to the public.
McDonald’s partnership with the White House comes only days after it was announced that Lyft and Uber would be offering free rides to anyone using the rideshare services to travel to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
“We all want to protect ourselves and our loved ones and be together with our communities again,” said Genna Gent, McDonald’s USA vice president for global public policy and government relations, in a statement. “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.”
Current data indicates that about a third of the country’s population – of about 113 million Americans – are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. One hundred fifty-one million, or about 45.6 percent of the population, have received at least one dose of available COVID-19 vaccinations.
However, “herd immunity” has not yet been reached. According to infectious disease experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, about 70 to 85 percent of Americans need to get the vaccine for the country to finally defeat the virus and put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror.
Public and private organizations are working on creative ways to urge people to get the shot. One study found that a financial incentive might be what some hesitant people need to get the jab in their arms.
British and Australian readers of Daily Mail shared their disdain for McDonald’s new coffee cup design.
“I guess Mickie Ds is off the menu now,” to which another person replied, “Probably a good thing judging by the size of everyone over there.”
What do you think about McDonald’s push for customers to get the COVID-19 vaccine by printing a slogan on their coffee cups?