Eric Clapton called his side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine “disastrous” in a new letter shared by architect/noted anti-lockdown activist Robin Monotti Graziadei.
Graziadei shared Clapton’s letter to him with permission from the guitarist to Telegram. In the letter, Clapton writes, “In February this year, before I learned about the nature of the vaccines, (and being 76 with ephezyma) I was in the avant garde. I took the first jab of AZ and straight away had severe reactions which lasted ten days, I recovered eventually and was told it would be twelve weeks before the second one…”
Clapton continued detailing his experience with the vaccine side effects, “About six weeks later I was offered and 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 suffer with peripheral neuropathy and should never have gone near the needle.) But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone….”
Clapton would close the letter with, “I continue to tread the path of passive rebellion and try to tow the line in order to be able to actively love my family, but it’s hard to bite my tongue with what I now know…I’ve recorded and will post here another song by Van [Morrison] called ‘The Rebels’ it’s not aggressive or provocative, it just asks; ‘Where have all the rebels gone?’Hiding behind their computer screens/Where’s the spirit, where is the soul/Where have all the rebels gone.’ 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…I believe with these things we can prevail.”
In November 2020, Clapton and Van Morrison released the song “Stand and Deliver,” which took aim at the U.K. government’s COVID-19 lockdown measures.