Matthew McConaughey Explains Why He is Opposed To Vaccine Mandates for Children

There is an ongoing debate on whether or not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Even though the purpose of getting vaccinated is being pushed, anti-vax individuals still have their reasons. And now that vaccinating children is being encouraged, parents are having doubts about whether or not their children should be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Even actor Matthew McConaughey shared his own take on this issue. He says that while he is not opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine, he does not believe that children should be required to get it too.

During the The New York Times’s DealBook summit, McConaughey explained that he wants to “trust in the science,” but also adds, “Do I think that there’s any kind of scam or conspiracy theory? Hell no, I don’t.” He continued, “We all got to get off that narrative. There’s not a conspiracy theory on the vaccines.”

And when it comes to his own children, McConaughey said he is not vaccinating them but he and his wife have already been vaccinated. He said, “We have a high-risk person in our household, my mother who’s 90 and she’s immune compromised.”

And when he was asked why he does not want his kids to be vaccinated, the actor replied, “We go slow on vaccinations anyway, even before Covid.” He also said that they have “quarantined harder than any of our friends.” McConaughey adds that he “couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids. I still want to find out more information.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, “Widespread vaccination for COVID-19 is a critical tool to best protect everyone from COVID-19 and COVID-19 related complications. Children and teens who are fully vaccinated can safely resume many activities that they did prior to the pandemic.”

CDC data shows that more than 360,000 children under the age of 12 have already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC website also explains that “There are approximately 28 million children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old in the United States, and there have been nearly 2 million cases of COVID-19 within this age group during the pandemic. COVID-19 can make children very sick and cause children to be hospitalized. In some situations, the complications from infection can lead to death.”

President Joe Biden commented on the CDC’s authorization of the vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, calling it “a giant step forward to further accelerate our path out of this pandemic.”

During his speech at the White House, President Biden said, “The bottom line is: We’ve been planning and preparing for months to vaccinate our children. Our program will be ramping up this week and more doses (will be) shipped out each day so that we have it fully up and running by next week.”

The U.S. President added, “We’re going to do everything we can to make these vaccines easily available and raise awareness of the importance of getting vaccinated. So parents of children ages 5 and over: please get them vaccinated” and reminding parents that the vaccine is “safe and effective.” Biden also encourages parents to “get your children vaccinated to protect themselves, to protect others and to stop the spread and to help us beat this pandemic.”

For the peace of mind of every parent out there, CDC assures that before recommending COVID-19 vaccination for children, scientists have already conducted numerous clinical trials with thousands of children and have proven that there are no serious safety concerns were identified.