Story at a glance
- U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned on Tuesday that children are not safe from the risks of COVID-19 after actor Matthew McConaughey spoke out against vaccine mandates for kids and said his youngest children would not immediately be vaccinated.
- McConaughey said earlier Tuesday at The New York Times’s DealBook summit he “couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids,” noting he wants more information.
- “Do I think there’s any kind of scam or conspiracy theory? Hell, no, I don’t,” he said.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned on Tuesday that children are not safe from the risks of COVID-19 and stressed the safety of vaccinations after actor Matthew McConaughey spoke out against vaccine mandates and said his youngest children would not be vaccinated.
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“Many kids have died. Sadly, hundreds of children — thousands — have been hospitalized, and as a dad of a child who has been hospitalized several years ago for another illness, I would never wish upon any parent they have a child that ends up in the hospital,” Murthy told CNN.
“And the vaccines have shown in these trials for children 5 through 11 they are more at 90 percent effective in protecting our kids from symptomatic infection, and they are remarkably safe as well.”
McConaughey said earlier Tuesday at The New York Times’s DealBook summit he “couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids,” noting he wants more information and “right now,” he’s not vaccinating his kids.
“Do I think there’s any kind of scam or conspiracy theory? Hell, no, I don’t,” he said, adding “Right now, I’m not vaccinating mine, I’ll tell you that.”
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The 52-year-old, who has said he and his wife, Camila Alves, are vaccinated, could potentially make a bid for Texas governor, saying in September that he is “measuring it.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized Pfizer’s vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 on Nov. 2, which opened the two-dose series to 28 million kids across the country. And the White House said Wednesday around 900,000 children in the age group were vaccinated in the first week.
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