Jimmy Barnes, Molly Meldrum reveal why they didn’t hesitate to get Covid-19 jab
Jimmy Barnes and Molly Meldrum are urging Australians to protect their loved ones and help the music industry by getting vaccinated.
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Jimmy Barnes had all of the reasons to get the jab.
He and wife Jane Barnes completed their two shots of the Covid-19 vaccine three weeks ago in anticipation of his national victory run in support of his historic No. 1 album Flesh and Blood.
That chart-topping feat again broke the ARIA record for most No. 1s by any artist.
After more than a year of entertaining tens of thousands of fans with their regular lockdown songs, the Barnes family were meant to hit the road on July 2 but now have to wait until September because of the current NSW outbreak.
And family was top of the list for Australia’s first couple of rock to get vaccinated.
They needed to be able to visit Jane’s mum in her aged care home and welcome daughter Eliza Jane, husband Jimmy Metherell and their baby son Teddy for a visit from New Zealand.
“Everyone should get vaccinated. We need to do this so we can all get back to life as we knew it,” Barnes said.
“I got mine because I don’t live in this life alone. I wanted myself and the people around me to be safe.
“And I want to be able to play live music to an audience.”
His good mate Molly Meldrum backed the campaign to get Australian vaccination rates up so the live music industry can get off its knees, crippled by the border closures and restrictions on mass gathering.
Meldrum’s message for Australia is a familiar one to Countdown fans: “Do yourself a favour and get vaccinated against Covid.”
The music icon and Countdown host, 78, got his jab on Monday. He said anyone who still has any concerns about the vaccine should talk to their doctor.
“We’re at the point now where people just need to get vaccinated as this virus is still around,” Meldrum said.
“In Melbourne we know how tough the long lockdowns are, and now Sydney are going through it and we all feel for them. But the only way out is if people get vaccinated. I know a lot of people already are, which is great, but there’s still a long way to go.
“The more vaccinated people there are out there, the sooner we can safely get back to big national concert tours. The music industry and the arts in general desperately need to be able to get back to work.”
Home and Away stars Ditch Davey and Lynne McGranger have also been vaccinated.
Davey, who plays Dr Christian Green on the hit TV soap, said Australians were now “standing at one of the most important crossroads in our lives”.
He is now fully vaccinated and said he did not have any side effects from the Pfizer jab.
“Over the past year and a half we have all been selflessly helped by scientists, medical staff and frontline workers all over the world,” he said.
“Now we need to help them, by getting the jab. I feel extremely fortunate to be on the right side of history by being fully vaxxed with the Pfizer vaccine.
“For me, there was no side effects at all. For families that have been separated and everyone that has been financially and emotionally crippled during this pandemic, please get the jab!”
TV icon McGranger, who plays Irene Roberts, said she and her husband had both had their first dose of AstraZeneca and were now keen to travel again.
“Getting vaccinated was a high priority for us,” she said.
“I was thoroughly convinced that the Astra Zeneca was extremely safe for Paul and I (both of us in our 60s) especially once I saw the figures.
“Of course we don’t want to get sick and end up on a ventilator or worse, but neither do we want to be responsible for spreading Covid. Also we are extremely keen to travel again - my best friend lives in the UK- and I’d love to be able to see her in the flesh again and hug her. “We get our second jab in a month!”
Sunrise co-hosts Natalie Barr and Kochie had their first AstraZeneca jabs live on air.
“I think vaccination is our only way out of this mess and we’ll probably be carrying vaccination passports to get into events like they’re doing overseas,” Barr said.
“Kochie and I had our first AZ shot live on Sunrise. I woke up with a bit of a fever and headache but went to work and after some Panadol, vegemite toast and an extra coffee I was fine.”
Kochie said he got his jab to protect his loved ones and keep his community safe.
“Just as I had a polio shot as a kid, just as I had vaccinations when I travelled overseas, just as I had a whooping cough shot when I became a grandfather, I naturally had a Covid vaccination for exactly the same reasons as before – to protect myself, my loved ones and my community,” he said.
“For me, that’s part of the deal for being lucky enough to be an Australian.
“I received an AstraZeneca vaccination and had no reaction at all. Libby had a headache and minor fever which a Panadol fixed in an instant. My 87-year-old mother felt a bit worn out and achy for a couple of days.”
Sunrise weather guru Sam Mac said the jab was the only way out of the pandemic.
“Being vaccinated is such a simple step to take to provide another crucial layer of defence against the virus,” he said.
“In Sydney, we’re in a very similar position we were in this time last year, so getting vaccinated is another step towards some form of normality.
“The process of filling in the form and getting the jab was done in a matter of minutes. If a massive wimp like me can do it, anyone can. Other than a slightly sore arm for a day I’ve felt completely normal.
“I’m relatively young and fit, so a big part of my decision to get the jab was to protect my parents, and the more senior people in my life. Like Kochie.”
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