Actor Morgan Freeman slammed people “refusing” to get the coronavirus vaccine, stating, “I will avoid you.” The actor’s comments arrive just days after the release of a PSA urging people to get the vaccine.
Morgan Freeman told Daily Show host Trevor Noah that he hopes “those people who are refusing to take these doggone shots would change their minds and realize that this is one of the things we really have to do.”
“I don’t understand, to tell you the truth, anyone who has some issues with the idea of being vaccinated against this scourge,” Freeman continued. “The facts are in. We know that all of those dead people are dead, and why they’re dead. They didn’t get hit by trucks or anything. It was this pandemic.”
Therefore, Freeman added that he would “recommend highly” for people to “go get the freaking shots.”
“But if you don’t, it’s really up to you. Except that now I have to avoid you. And I will,” Freeman affirmed.
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The actor also addressed reluctance to get the vaccine within the black community due to the Tuskegee experiments once conducted by the U.S. government, working with the Tuskegee Institute, using black men as guinea pigs in a study to record the natural history of syphilis.
“I heard yesterday of people saying that there are a lot of black people who just don’t trust it because of the Tuskegee experiment. That’s horse-puckey. I don’t believe that. That’s ridiculous,” Freeman said. “This is a whole new world, a whole new society, a whole new group of people, and this thing here is for real. It’s not something somebody made up as a test to see how we’ll react to it.”
And in response to anyone criticizing him for getting involved in the debate surrounding the coronavirus vaccine, Freeman said, “I’m trying to keep my peace, stay above the ground. You do what you gotta do, I’ll do what I gotta do.”
“And I suppose one of the things that I have to do is say to you, those, ‘Get the shot. Help protect me,'” Freeman added.
On Monday, Freeman released a PSA encouraging people to get the coronavirus vaccine, saying it will help make the world a safer place.
“I’m not a doctor, but I trust science. And I’m told that, for some reason, people trust me,” Freeman said. “So here I am to say, I trust science, and I got the vaccine. If you trust me, you’ll get the vaccine.”
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