Musician Eric Clapton attacked for revealing his own Covid-19 vaccine side effects, concerns for kids

‘Tears in Heaven’ musician Eric Clapton is being accused of discouraging people from getting vaccinated against Covid-19 after he expressed concern about the effects of the inoculations, especially on children.

During a recent chat with Oracle Films, Clapton made his views on the government, Covid-19 vaccines and lockdowns clear, saying he first became “disenchanted and suspicious” with government around the time of Brexit and he began consuming independent media critical of lockdown measures last year when places like the United Kingdom were under strict lockdown orders.

Clapton first began getting backlash for his views on lockdowns after he collaborated with Van Morrison on 2020’s ‘Stand and Deliver’, a Covid-era protest song against overreaching governments.

Clapton said he was labeled a “Trump supporter” after the Morrison collaboration. 

“The minute I began to say anything about the lockdown here, and my concerns, I was labeled a Trump supporter,” he said. “I got some pretty heavy feedback.”

On Covid-19 vaccines, Clapton said he got inoculated for the sake of his children, but revealed that he suffered from significant side effects and “was out for the count for about a week” with “agony” and “chronic pain.”

The ‘Cocaine’ singer went on to claim he still feels effects since receiving his second dose of the vaccine, saying he still can’t touch things that are too hot or cold without gloves and struggles with his guitar playing. 

Clapton expressed concerns about rushed vaccines, even mentioning at one point infertility as a potential side effect, though there has been no proof that this is caused by any of the vaccines. 

“To talk to my daughters about, that they may not be able to have kids, they probably don’t care. That’s one of the risks I take by doing this. They’re going to look at me like, ‘Why don’t you just keep your mouth shut, dad?’” he said. 

Clapton said his views during the pandemic have practically isolated him from colleagues. 

“I would try to reach out to fellow musicians and sometimes I just don’t hear from them anymore. My phone doesn’t ring very often. I don’t get that many texts and emails anymore,” he said. 

That pushback extends to critics Clapton doesn’t know, as a clip from his interview expressing concern about Covid-19 vaccines got a wave of attention on Monday, with people attacking Clapton as anti-vaccine, some even getting personal in their attacks, targeting both the musician’s work and using the death of his young son in 1991 to swipe at his views. 

Clapton was previously labeled a “conspiracy theorist” by critics for a message shared earlier this month when he called his reaction to AstraZeneca's jab “disastrous” and blamed “propaganda” for keeping people from questioning the actual safety of the vaccines. 

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