TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy has advocated for COVID-19 vaccinations, saying that public health is not a political issue. The 35-year-old musician, who revealed last month that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus after being fully vaccinated, addressed the hot-button topic of vaccines, masks and other COVID-19 protocols in a social media post on Friday (July 30). He wrote: "Comments are off where possible, and will not be read where they can't be turned off. Simply because — I know where this will unfortunately likely go with 33.3% of the people who will see this. I'm seeing a lot of panic (in media and social media and society) on 'people still getting Covid despite being vaccinated.' "Think of my family as a mini case study. "My dad and I have the same genetics- we're the same family," he continued. "He is a marine as well. So tough as nails. My dad was 1/2 shots in (purely due to not being able to get the second in time) when he contracted COVID. 2 hospitalizations, almost dying, and now 15/16 weeks out — still has potential liver / heart / lung damage. He still feels lung tightness 17/18 weeks out. "I was 2/2 shots in when my wife (2/2 shots in) contracted Covid (likely delta variant) from a non-vaccinated person. It went from non vax person to vax person, to our kids (non vaccinated due to being 2.5 years old), to a vaccinated person (me). While it was an annoying 'cold-like-sickness' I still was able to do Muay Thai on a heavy bag, do my mace workouts, do yoga, sing/scream on stream and perform. It was 4-5 annoying days, 1 slightly worse day (still streamed, still performed), then I was 80% for a couple days, then 100%. Same with my wife. Thankfully same with my kids (Mia had a fever at 103/104, Akira got to 102/103; both were good in 5ish days). "We need to look at 'getting Covid' as a vaccinated person — the same we look at catching a cold, catching the flu," he added. "The vaccines % of efficacy was % of you not being hospitalized. Just like the flu shot (at its 40-50% efficacy of that). "I want tours back, I wanna eat at restaurants and share food with my hands, and take bites of my friends food, share drinks with friends, train jiu jitsu and freely have my partner's sweat drop into my mouth/ nose/ eyes and not care. "Anyone who says this is a political thing — is wrong and is likely scared. I had the vaccine, I have not fallen in my output in anything I do. I'm still training, making music, and ready as hell to get back to playing shows, getting in the crowd, hugging all of you, and eating everywhere. "If you see someone choosing to wear a mask — remember there are far many more health issues than just what's happening right now. I have many high risk family and friends who cannot risk even getting this weakened (vaccinated) Covid. It could kill them or a loved one. Respect one another. Don't make this about something it isn't. "Let's get back to having shows! Can't wait to see you all on the upcoming MEGADETH, LAMB OF GOD, HATEBREED run!" Heafy, who lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and their two-year-old twin children, is showing that while vaccines are exceptionally effective in preventing death and severe illness from the coronavirus and its known variants, some are far from foolproof in preventing infection altogether. Most of the people with so-called "breakthrough" infections are asymptomatic. According to Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC), large-scale clinical studies found that COVID-19 vaccination prevented most people from getting COVID-19. Research also provides growing evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna) offer similar protection in real-world conditions. While these vaccines are effective, no vaccine prevents illness 100% of the time. For any vaccine, there are breakthrough cases. New variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 illness are spreading in the United States and other countries. Current data suggest that COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States offer protection against most variants. However, some variants might cause illness in some people after they are fully vaccinated.
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