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A Santa Claus hat with campaign messaging on sale at a Trump rally in Hershey, Pa., last December.
Mark Makela/Getty Images
A federal health agency halted a public-service coronavirus advertising campaign funded by $250 million in taxpayer money after it offered a special vaccine deal to an unusual set of essential workers: Santa Claus performers.
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As part of the plan, a top Trump administration official wanted the Santa performers to promote the benefits of a COVID-19 vaccination and, in exchange, offered them early vaccine access ahead of the general public, according to audio recordings. Those who perform as Mrs. Claus and elves also would have been included.
The Department of Health and Human Services said Friday the Santa plan would be scrapped. The deal was the brainchild of the official, Michael Caputo, an HHS assistant secretary, who took a 60-day medical leave last month. The rest of the campaign now is under an HHS review.
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The Santa “collaboration will not be happening,” and HHS Secretary Alex Azar had no knowledge of Caputo’s outreach discussions, an HHS spokesman said. Caputo didn’t respond to requests for comment.
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.
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