Matthew McConaughey, 52, made his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine clear in a Wednesday November 10 Instagram post, where he said that he had been taken out of context in many news stories when he said that he didn’t have immediate plans to vaccinate his kids during a New York Times interview. The actor said that he wanted to “clarify” his answer and noted that he was specifically speaking about vaccine mandates for children between the ages 5 and 11.
During a discussion with The Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin, the actor (and potential Texas gubernatorial candidate) shared his thoughts on the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine mandates. When Andrew posed the question about vaccine mandates for children, Matthew showed faith in the vaccine, but said that he didn’t have plans to vaccinate his kids. “Right now, I’m not vaccinating mine. I’ll tell you that,” the star said. “I couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids. I still want to find out more information.” The actor also showed some general vaccine hesitance. “We go slow on vaccinations anyway. Even before COVID,” he said.
The Dazed and Confused star wrote on his Instagram story that it wasn’t made clear in the question that they were specifically discussing children between the ages of 5 and 11, who have just received recommendation to get the vaccine from the CDC on November 2, via a press release. “When asked my opinion on the subject of children and vaccination mandates I stated, ‘I couldn’t mandate it for kids just yet.’ What as not clear is that I was referring specifically to the 5-11 year old mandate,” Matt wrote on his Instagram story.
During the Times interview, Matt noted that he and his wife Camila Alves had both been vaccinated and have been cautious with quarantines, partially due to his immunocompromised mother. Matt also clarified that during the interview he was only referring to his children in that age group: his daughter Vida, 10, and son Livingston, 8, because he noted that his oldest child Levi has been vaccinated. “What is NOT true and insinuated with the click bait headlines since, is that I am against vaccinating kids at all. This is false. In fact, our eldest 13 year old son Levi is fully vaccinated for Covid 19,” he wrote. “I appreciate the ear and clarity, just keep livin.”