Eric Clapton has called claims that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for everyone “propaganda” after he says he had a severe reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccination.
Clapton recently wrote a letter detailing his negative experience to anti-vaccine advocate Robin Monotti Graziadei that Monotti shared this past week on his Telegram page, with Eric’s permission.
“In February this year, before I learned about the nature of the vaccines, (and being 76 with ephezyma)…I took the first jab of AZ and straight away had severe reactions which lasted ten days,” Clapton writes. “I recovered eventually and was told it would be twelve weeks before the second one…”
Eric continues, “About six weeks later I…took the second AZ shot, but with a little more knowledge of the dangers. Needless to say the reactions were disastrous, my hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I feared I would never play again…[I] should never have gone near the needle.”
Also in the letter, Clapton discusses how he was “immediately regaled with contempt and scorn” last year after he released “Stand and Deliver,” a Van Morrison-penned song criticizing the U.K. government’s public-health policies regarding COVID-19.
Eric notes in the letter, “I was directed to Van M, that’s when I found my voice, and even though I was singing his words, they echoed in my heart…”
Clapton also points out that he contributed guitar to a new Morrison song, “Where Have All the Rebels Gone?”
After quoting the lyrics, Eric writes, “I’ve been a rebel all my life, against tyranny and arrogant authority, which is what we have now, but I also crave fellowship, compassion and love, and that I find here…,” apparently referring to Monotti and his followers.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.