How to convince Gen Z-ers they need to be vaccinated

Throughout the pandemic, officials neglected to speak Gen Z's language, include them in stimulus bills and failed to adequately address its impact on their mental health, write Matt Alexander and Jesper Ke. The latest wave of cases among this group shows that we need a collective effort to address vaccine hesitancy first among young adults.

However, what worries us more is that Michigan may be a bellwether of what the pandemic will look like elsewhere: case counts surpassing the fall wave and hospitals deferring elective surgeries as states scramble to vaccinate their remaining population. In order to prevent this, we need to get young adults vaccinated. But to do that, we must address vaccine hesitancy first among young adults and the lack of messaging targeted specifically toward a key constituency: Gen Z.