Do we seriously need to spend $250 million to promote the COVID vaccine?

The US federal government's department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning to spend $250 million on an advertising campaign to convince people that the COVID vaccine is safe, and they should take it when it becomes available.

What a fucking waste! Due to conspiracy theories, t**** administration lies and rhetoric, and general stupidity, our government feels that it must blow a quarter of a billion dollars advertising a crucial lifesaving vaccine.

If only we could give that money to states to help them pay for the vaccination effort, or to try to speed up vaccine manufacture and distribution. If only we could use that kind of money to give scholarships to young people to go to medical school, or provide vaccination in 3rd world countries that cant afford it, or to feed people. Instead we have to waste it educating credulous idiots.

Just to put a $250M advertising budget in a little bit of perspective, that is more than half of McDonalds' annual worldwide ad budget. Just stop for a moment and consider how much advertising you see from McDonalds in your country during one year on TV and radio, in newspapers and magazines, on billboards, and on every form of online media. Now scale that up to the whole world. HHS is going to spend more than 1/2 of that amount in the US to convince people to take the vaccine!

Meanwhile, Congress has spent months fighting over a million here and a million there in a stimulus package now valued at about $750M. Let me reiterate: HHS is going to spend an amount equal to 1/3 of the proposed stimulus package to convince idiots to take the vaccine that the rest of us have been breathlessly awaiting all year.

HHS - Holy Horse Shit!