In this week’s edition of We Regret to Inform You During a Pandemic, the world recently learned that rapper M.I.A. is an anti-vaxxer. The outspoken dance music icon tweeted on March 25, “If I have to choose the vaccine or chip I’m gonna choose death,” in a seemingly unprompted reference to coronavirus. When Twitter user @thepackisbackk called her an anti-vaxxer, she clarified, “Yeah in America they made me vacinate my child before the school admission. It was the hardest thing. To not have choice over this as a mother. I never wanna feel that again. He was so sick for 3 weeks then Docs had to pump him with antibiotics to reduce the fever from 3 vaxins” in a since-deleted tweet. As if it needs to be said, vaccines save lives and are safe. And as if it also needs to be said, to M.I.A.: It always costs $0.00 to not say anything.
Although a COVID-19 vaccine is currently in trials, one likely won’t be widely available until 2021, in case M.I.A. has a change of heart. Between now and then, thousands more people will die, contrary to her claim that “You are not gonna die. … All the vaccines you ve already had is enough to see you through.” But M.I.A. has already moved onto bigger issues, capping her Twitter storm by adding, “Cancelling is irrelevant!” for good measure.
Update, April 3: We again regret to inform you that M.I.A. has logged back on. “I’m not against vaccines. I’m against companies who care more for profit then [sic] humans,” she claimed in a new tweet. “I don’t want it coming from banks / tech /hedge fund sector and I want a choice.” (Wanting a choice sure sounds anti-vaxx.) The performer also posted a tweet alluding to a conspiracy theory that 5G internet caused the coronavirus. (It didn’t.) “Prevention is always better then [sic] cure. Can you love vax and 5G at the same time?” she then wondered. “This is a question that gonna take me 2 months to answer . Brb .” We’ll be grateful for that preventative measure.