Matthew McConaughey has not yet vaccinated his two youngest children and wants more information before doing so, he said at The New York Times’ DealBook summit on Tuesday.
In response, Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy pleaded with parents to vaccinate their children.
“Please, consider strongly getting your children vaccinated,” Murthy said, speaking with CNN’s Erin Burnett Wednesday night. “There is a lot of noise out there, but talk to your doctor, consult credible health sources and recognize this is our opportunity to protect our kids and to get them back to so many things they missed out on”
Murthy also encouraged parents to recognize that “COVID is not harmless in our children.” He added: “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.”
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 and above. Approval followed trials that took place over the summer, which found that the Pfizer vaccine was more than 91% effective in children between the ages of 5 and 11. The antibody response rate was similar to what was seen in adults.
Speaking with The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin, McConaughey said he is against a vaccine mandate for kids “just yet.”
“I couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids,” the actor and Austinite, who has flirted with a run for Texas governor, said. “I still wanna find out more information. There’s gonna come a time though, and there has already in these last two years, where you’re gonna have to roll the dice one way or the other and go, ‘Where are the numbers in my favor?’”
According to The Washington Post, a spokesperson for McConaughey later clarified that the actor was only referring to his two children under the age of 12, who only recently became eligible for the vaccine. McConaughey’s older child, who is 13, is vaccinated, The New York Times reported.
Experts agree that the health benefits of vaccination outweigh any potential rare risks, including for children 5 to 11. Vaccines are more than 90% effective in children, Murthy said on CNN, and they are “remarkably safe.”
McConaughey is vaccinated, and has been a public proponent of vaccines for adults. In April, he participated in an NBC special with former first lady Michelle Obama to promote vaccines. McConaughey told Sorkin that his wife, Camila Alves, and his 90-year-old mother are also vaccinated.
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