There’s never a good time for anyone vaguely in the public eye to come out as an anti-vaxxer, but when the entire world is trying to figure out how to put an end to a pandemic likely ranks among the worst times.
Yet Anwar Hadid, younger brother to supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid and boyfriend to singer Dua Lipa, decided to share his anti-vax views on Instagram—and it has not gone over well.
The 21-year-old was hosting a Q&A on his Instagram Story when one of his followers asked him if he’d be getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Absolutely not,” he wrote.
While that was initially all the info Hadid provided, someone later followed up and asked him to explain why he’s “anti vax.”
“Either I just don’t get [COVID-19] or I get it and God willing heal from it and get antibodies rather than do that process unnaturally,” he replied. “Our bodies are made by the creator to do way more than we think.”
Of course, the options here aren’t simply not getting COVID-19, getting anti-bodies, or getting the vaccine. Even people who are young and healthy can come down with the virus and either die, or survive with serious, potentially lifelong health problems that we don’t fully understand yet.
And as pointed out by TMZ, Hadid is potentially among those at a higher risk if he’s infected by the novel coronavirus, as he has Lyme disease.
Being conscientious about what goes into your body isn’t innately a bad thing, but dismissing vaccinations entirely—again, particularly in the middle of a pandemic—is not going over well with people who think Hadid is being irresponsible with his platform.
The stories in question are no longer available on Hadid’s account, and he hasn’t commented further on the controversy.
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