‘General Hospital’: Ingo Rademacher Responds to Criticism About Anti-Vaccine Passport Rally Support
General Hospital actor Ingo Rademacher took to Instagram last night after receiving backlash from fans regarding his opinions about the COVID-19 vaccine and, specifically, vaccine passports. Here’s what he said.
Ingo Rademacher’s post that stemmed the controversy
On Aug. 21, Rademacher shared an event in an Instagram story that was to take place the following afternoon. The event was a “No Vaccine Passport Rally” that stated it stood for “freedom of choice” in light of vaccine mandates. Participants of the rally stood with professionals who are at risk of losing their jobs if they choose not to get vaccinated.
The promotion of the event didn’t sit well with many General Hospital fans. Rademacher was trending on Twitter over the weekend with GH fans saying the actor should be fired because of his stance.
Ingo Rademacher insists he’s not ‘anti-vaccine’
Rademacher shared five videos the evening of Aug. 24. In one of them, he stated: “Oh, my goodness! The Twitter world… the cesspool of cyberbullying at its finest. Unbelievable. The post that I made yesterday was not anti-vaccine. Let me be clear. It was not anti-vaccine. It was anti-vaccine passport slash mandate. Okay, I’m not for that.”
“I think if you want to take the vaccine if you think you’re going to die from the virus go ahead and take the vaccine but know that taking the vaccine does not stop you from spreading the virus to others — there are plenty of breakthrough cases and I won’t get into the details but I know of personal ones, believe me, and all over the world,” he continued.
“Let’s follow the data: [the vaccine] doesn’t stop you from spreading the virus, doesn’t stop you from getting the virus and doesn’t stop you from dying from the virus,” he went on. “So, if you want to take the vaccine, please go ahead and take the vaccine and protect yourself, but as far as mandates go I am against them and that’s it.”
Ingo Rademacher’s official statement
At the end of his videos, the General Hospital actor posted an official statement.
“My post was not anti-vaccine passport/mandate,” read the statement. “If you want to get the vaccine because you have a fear of dying from this virus, talk to your doctor and decide. This is about freedom to choose what’s best for you. A huge percentage of our population have already recovered from COVID and have natural immunity, why does that not count? Please let that sink in. Taking the vaccine does not stop you from getting COVID, spreading it, or dying from it. Now would be a good time to be honest and start following the science.”
Each of Rademacher’s posts was linked to the COVID-19 Information Center courtesy of Instagram. The page presents these facts: COVID-19 vaccines were developed quickly while maintaining the highest safety standard possible, vaccines are thoroughly tested for safety before they’re made available to the public, COVID-19 vaccines can’t give you COVID-19, vaccine side effects are usually mild, pneumonia vaccines don’t prevent COVID-19, vaccine trials involve a diverse range of volunteers, you won’t be able to make a COVID-19 vaccine at home, and COVID-19 vaccine trials are following safety and ethical standards.
