Can Celebrities Be Our Secret Weapon Against COVID-19?

Co-authored by Artem Trotsyuk M.S.

Last month, we had the misfortune of hearing about Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend's testicles when she tweeted (falsely) that his testicular swelling resulted from the COVID-19 vaccine. Public health experts around the world were quick to correct the misinformation, but the damage was done. Minaj has almost six times the number of Twitter followers than the CDC.

Millions likely saw her misinformation but missed the correction from health experts. Some may be likely to skip the vaccine because of it. You may be tempted to say celebrities should stop tweeting about the pandemic. We think that would be a mistake.

We think it’s vital that they do. They may be the strongest tool we have to combat the virus. Public health research has long established that celebrity comments can nip pandemics in the bud, but only when done effectively.

Perhaps the most famous example comes from diarrheal disease in Egypt. In the 1980s, dehydration from viral diarrhea caused half of the infant deaths in Egypt. This frustrated public health experts, as there was a simple way to prevent these deaths: oral rehydration therapy (a mixture of salt, sugar, and water that prevents dehydration). The Egyptian Ministry of Health created videos with soap opera stars telling people about the treatment, which parents could easily make at home. Before the campaign, three percent of mothers knew about the treatment. After, 98 percent knew. Infant diarrheal deaths dropped nearly 40 percent.

Similar phenomena have been seen in the U.S. After Magic Johnson announced his HIV status, one study found that the percentage of people considering an HIV test increased from 52 percent to 92 percent. Another recent study found that Tom Hanks’ announcement that he contracted COVID-19 resulted in a greater likelihood of following public health recommendations to prevent the spread of the disease.

Celebrities have the unique ability to connect with people in a deeply personal way, which leads to high levels of trust. This is something doctors and public health experts don’t always have. Take the Tuskegee Experiment, conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the US Public Health Service. Over the course of 40 years, African American men were subject to experimentation to observe the effects of syphilis when left untreated. A highly effective treatment, penicillin, was withheld from them. It’s no surprise that, given history like this, many people trust celebrities more than physicians and public health experts.

Celebrities also have an immense global reach. Over one-third of the world uses Facebook alone. Combine that with the daily users of Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube, and this explains why social media is one of the most common places people get their information. Mega-influencers like Ariana Grande and Cristiano Ronaldo reach millions of followers a day. These celebrities have a responsibility to their followers.

Many celebrities we follow are actively doing their part. Take Ellen Pompeo, for example. As someone who plays a doctor on television, many take her medical opinions seriously, and she understands that what she says matters. Through the COVID pandemic, she has advocated for frontline healthcare workers, calling for greater availability of personal protective equipment. The Grey’s Anatomy cast also created a campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Other celebrities have not been so responsible. Gwyneth Paltrow is famously known for Goop, her health, and wellness brand. She has come under scrutiny recently for her passionate support of pseudoscience while making a substantial profit from her wellness brand. At one point, she even promoted a dangerous and absurd coffee enema. As Jen Gunter put it, women needed to protect themselves from Gwyneth. When a celebrity does not take their responsibility for sharing credible information seriously, danger ensues.

While Paltrow seems to be driven by Goop’s profits, we remain hopeful that other celebrities truly have their fans’ best interests at heart, and we want to help them keep people safe. To celebrities reading: please check your sources. Amplify messages from professional medical societies like The American Medical Association and The American Academy of Pediatrics. Beware of deceptive fringe organizations with legit-sounding names like The American College of Pediatricians and America’s Front Line Doctors. Avoid anecdotes and, instead, post-peer-reviewed studies that are listed in the NIH’s database. And when in doubt, seek out an expert. You can usually find our contact information on university profile pages, and we’re always happy to help.

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We hope that celebrities will also consider creating a coordinated effort to promote accurate information about the pandemic. As we saw with Time’s Up, celebrities have unparalleled abilities to create effective messaging organizations. Celebrities could partner with public health experts to create effective messaging campaigns as we saw with the Truth Campaign, which prevented hundreds of thousands of adolescents from smoking cigarettes.

Instead of yelling into the void about people not listening to public health experts, we need to look at the realities of why they aren’t. Many people don’t trust public health experts and the medical establishment, and given the historical context, we can understand why. The reality is that celebrities are better able to connect with people to feel safe and personal. It’s a big responsibility they carry, but one that can lead to a huge positive impact. To Nicki and all the celebrities out there: please use it well, and we’re excited to watch you act as our secret weapon against the pandemic.

Artem Trotsyuk M.S. (@artemtrotsyuk) is a graduate fellow in bioengineering and computer science at Stanford University School of Medicine.