Metallica’s James Hetfield Is “Skeptical” About the COVID-19 Vaccine

Metallica frontman James Hetfield has expressed skepticism regarding the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. Furthermore, he says he himself may not get vaccinated unless required to in order to travel.

Hetfield made the admission during an interview with The Fierce Life podcast. He also implied that his hesitancy stems from his upbringing as a Christian Scientist, a religion that rejects all medicine in favor of leaving their well-being to God.

Asked about the possibility of touring in 2021, Hetfield said:

“I have no clue. It’s not up to me. It really is up to the safety of everyone — not just the fans, but the crew and us. I’m not sure what that means in the future as far as vaccines. I’m a little skeptical of getting the vaccine, but it seems to be rolling out and people are getting it and I’ve got lots of friends that have done it. I’m not totally sure about it.

“But I hope it doesn’t come to a point where you have to have that COVID stamp in your passport or something to go everywhere. But if it comes down to that, then I’ll make a decision then. We got vaccinated to go to Africa, so it’s not like I’ve never been vaccinated before. But as a kid, I never got vaccinations ’cause of our religion [Christian Science]. So that was the only time I got one — when we were going on safari in Africa.”

In more promising news, Hetfield also said that Metallica “wrote quite a few songs” during the lockdown.

Listen to the entire interview below:

[via]