Bruce Dickinson is speaking about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine, which he insists prevented him from falling seriously ill after contracting the virus.
The Iron Maiden frontman tested positive for the coronavirus earlier in August despite being fully vaccinated. At the time, he described to Rolling Stone feeling "a bit groggy" and as if he had the flu. "I'm 63 years old," he said at the time. "I've pretty much got no doubt that had I not had the vaccine, I could be in serious trouble."
Dickinson doubled down on his remarks during an appearance on Sirius XM in which he discussed his breakthrough infection.
"I had my double shot of vaccine back in May, and everything was hunky-dory, and then I got what people are calling a breakthrough COVID infection, which was just like a ... It's a bit more than a flu," he said, according to Blabbermouth. "I would really caution against people who go, 'Oh, it's just a flu.' No, it's not."
The rocker pointed out that there were much younger people who had not had the vaccine and contracted COVID-19 and were then bedridden for several weeks.
"They've been really sick, ongoing. They're not in hospital, but their life is really screwed up," Dickinson said. "And there's all kinds of ... People are talking about long-term COVID causing diabetes, causing stuff with your brain, even — dare I say it — erectile dysfunction. There you go. They didn't tell you about that when they said go and get vaccinated."
With these long-term symptoms in mind, Dickinson stressed the importance of the vaccine, explaining that although he had contracted the virus despite being fully vaccinated, he had managed to overcome it in 10 days.
"It took me about a week after that to get my smell back, to start feeling more normal — get energy and stuff," he said. "But this is not just an ordinary commoner garden flu. Honestly, it's my personal opinion — I'm not forcing anybody to go and do stuff — but I would advise anybody to just go ahead and get the vaccine."
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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