Matthew McConaughey says he is against mandating children get vaccinated but got the shot himself

Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey came out against vaccine mandates for children Tuesday – even as the father of three revealed that he has gotten both shots.

McConaughey, 52, said that while he and his wife are both vaccinated, he doesn’t want to mandate the COVID-19 jabs for children, including his kids – aged 13, 11 and 8.

‘I couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids. I still want to find out more information,’ McConaughey said.

McConaughey, who continues to flirt with a run for governor of Texas , made his comments after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer shot for emergency use by children aged 5 to 11.

He told writer Andrew Ross Sorkin Tuesday that vaccinations should be about personal choice.

McConaughey added that both he and his wife were vaccinated but he had no plans to vaccinate his three children

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer shot for emergency use by children aged 5 to 11.

‘I’m vaccinated. My wife’s vaccinated. I didn’t do it because someone told me I had to — [I] chose to do it,’ he said. ‘Do I think that there’s any kind of scam or conspiracy theory? Hell no.’

‘We all got to get off that narrative. There’s not a conspiracy theory on the vaccines,’ he said.

However, he added that ‘right now’ he won’t vaccinate his three children against the virus. 

There have been 680 children under the age 18 who have died from COVID-19 during the pandemic as of November 3, according to the CDC. Many of those had underlying health issues. 

In McConaughey’s home state, 61.9 percent of Texans have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine and 53.8 percent were fully vaccinated. 

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy responded to McConaughey on CNN later Tuesday, saying that vaccinating children was important because ‘Covid is not harmless’ to them. 

‘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,’ Murthy said.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy responded to McConaughey Thursday, saying vaccines were important for kids because ‘Covid is not harmless’ to them

McConaughey has been flirting with running against Texas Governor Greg Abbott (pictured) in 2022

Around 67.5 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine

‘And the vaccines have shown in these trials for children 5 through 11 they are more than 90% effective in protecting our kids from symptomatic infection, and they are remarkably safe as well.’

Around 67.5 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

McConaughey said that his family quarantined fairly extensively during 2020 and made use of a ‘heavy amount’ of tests for the virus.

‘I’m in a position though where I can do that, and I understand that not everyone can do that,’ he said.

McConaughey has not yet said whether he’ll challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022, saying in October he thinks politics is a ‘bag of rats’ and believes his life ‘outside of politics’ is better than it would be if he changed his career path.

Nonetheless, the Dazed and Confused star also gave his thought on the state’s six-week abortion ban which, has launched protests and challenges in the courts.

‘It doesn’t doesn’t seem to open up the room for a sensible choice to be made at the right time,’ he said about the ban, which he felt was ‘overly aggressive.’

‘I believe in this: more responsibility, more personal responsibility to make the right choices. And we got to pick context with each situation, and each person’s situation, each woman’s situation.’