The COVID vaccine is slowly circulating to the masses. We have what some of your favorite celebrities think, including Dolly Parton, Priyanka Chopra, Paul McCartney, and more!
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of over 2 million people around the world, and cases are still rising. However, hope is on the horizon as a vaccine has been rolled out and administered to over 12 million people in the U.S. alone. Even more promising, President Biden has vowed to dispense 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days of office. However, Americans are having mixed feelings about the treatment, and many don’t want to receive it at all. Here’s how some of your favorite celebrities are reacting to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Martha Stewart
Among the celebrities who have already received the vaccine is lifestyle guru Martha Stewart. On January 11th, 79-year-old Stewart wrote on Instagram, “I was vaccinated today in a designated vaccine pod near the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Downtown I am so proud of and grateful to the doctors, nurses and medical staff who are wading through the red tape and confusion of the distribution of these very important vaccines.”
Steve Martin
Another celebrity who was able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is 75-year-old Steve Martin. The comedian wrote to Twitter, “Good news/Bad news. Good news: I just got vaccinated! Bad news: I got it because I’m 75. Ha! The operation in NYC was smooth as silk (sorry about the cliché @BCDreyer!) and hosted to perfection by the US Army and National Guard. Thank you all, and thank you science.”
Dolly Parton
Legendary singer-songwriter Dolly Parton is a coronavirus vaccine advocate and even donated $1 million to COVID-19 research. She later learned that a portion of her generous contribution was given to Vanderbilt University to help fund Moderna’s COVID-19 treatment. Parton shared with BBC’s “The One Show,” “I’m a very proud girl today to know I had anything at all to do with something that’s going to help us through this crazy pandemic.”
Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra is another vaccine supporter as she applauded her home-country’s COVID-19 vaccination roll-out. The actress re-tweeted UNICEF’s post along with the caption, “Bravo India! Congratulations to Indian authorities, and medical & health teams for starting off the massive Covid vaccination drive. Forever grateful to our frontline heroes who have been risking their lives this past year to save others.”
Paul McCartney
In an interview with The Sun, Beatles legend Paul McCartney shared that he believes a vaccine is key to beating the COVID-19 pandemic. He stated, “The vaccine will get us out of this. I think we’ll come through it, I know we’ll come through, and it’s great news about the vaccine.” The singer-songwriter has also vowed to take the vaccine as soon as he is allowed.
Kate Winslet
Titanic actress Kate Winslet revealed that she is relieved because her 81-year-old father received his first dose of the treatment. She states on the Marc Maron Podcast, “My father has had his vaccination, he’s 81, that feels like a huge relief. He’s had his first dose. We will all just have to wait our turn.”
Letitia Wright
However, not everyone in Hollywood is as eager to receive the vaccine. In December 2020, Black Panther star Letitia Wright posted a controversial video that questioned the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments and vaccinations in general.
The actress received major backlash for the now-deleted tweet, and one of her critics was Marvel co-star Don Cheadle. The actor at first defended Wright but after watching the video, he deleted his comments and condemned her for spreading misinformation. Cheadle posted, “jesus… just scrolled through. hot garbage. every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up. i would never defend anybody posting this. but i still won’t throw her away over it. the rest i’ll take off twitter. had no idea.”
In response, Wright tweeted “if you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself….you get cancelled” with a laughing face emoji. The actress later issued another response stating “my intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else.”
Wright has since deleted her Twitter account.
Rob Schneider
Another outspoken skeptic is actor Rob Schneider, who has expressed his doubts about vaccines for years. In 2012, Schneider stated, “The efficacy of these shots have not been proven. And the toxicity of these things—we’re having more and more side effects. We’re having more and more autism.” Therefore, it comes to no surprise that he is an avid critic of the COVID-19 treatment. On January 1, 2020, Schneider tweeted an article about front-line workers not taking the vaccine and added, “Suddenly people are realizing that vaccine injury is real. And it always has been real.”
As vaccines become more accessible to the public, we will see which of our favorite stars will and will not receive the treatment. For now, all we can do is take Kate Winslet’s advice and wait our turn.
