Matthew McConaughey doesn’t want to vaccinate his kids—yet.

On October 29, the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for kids aged 5-11 for emergency use, and it was then further cleared by the CDC on November 2.

In a Dealbook Online Summit hosted by Andrew Ross Sorkin with the New York Times, McConaughey said:

“We all gotta get off that narrative—there’s not a conspiracy theory on the vaccines. These are scientists trying to do the right thing.”

“It’s scary. Right now, I’m not vaccinating mine, I’ll tell ya that. I’ve been vaccinated. My wife’s been vaccinated. We have a high risk person in our household—my mother who’s 90, and she’s immune compromised.

But then, he goes on to say:

“I couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids. I still wanna find out more information.”

(Timestamp: 21:45 – 23:32.)

Dear Mr. McConaughey and everyone who’s concerned about the children:

I get it. We all want to make sure our kids are safe. However, if you can trust the science for you, you can trust the science for your kids. And vaccinating our children will keep them safer than if they are unvaccinated.

Let’s stop saying these four ridiculous words: “do your own research.”

Are any of us trained to research the effects of the vaccine? No. We can’t do our own research—we don’t have a lab and a team. Let’s be honest: none of us have researched anything since ninth grade biology. Looking stuff up online isn’t doing research. Finding published, peer reviewed papers isn’t even doing your own research. It’s finding someone else’s research. Even then—are we truly educated enough to understand all of the science behind these papers? And final question: are you confident that you’re not finding only results that support your claims—particularly because Google will show you what you want to see?

McConaughey didn’t specifically say he wanted to do his own research. He said he wanted to find out more information. What’s the difference? What information is he going to find? The underlying message is that while he verbally said he trusts the science, his actions are saying he doesn’t. And these kinds of messages perpetuate vaccine hesitancy.

People who waited to “see what happens” after others were vaccinated lost their lives. They’re still losing their lives. And many who don’t die are suffering from some horrific, long-term complications after contracting Covid.

I understand the fear or hesitancy. But there are a million “what if’s” when it comes to our health and that of our children. That’s why we put it in the hands of doctors and scientists. They have answered those what if’s through intensive and sophisticated research and trials, through their own experience and education.

Addition!

Some more great information about vaccinating children: