Jennifer Aniston explains why she has cut unvaccinated people out of her life

Jennifer Aniston has hit back at people who were baffled by her decision to cut unvaccinated people out of her life.

Actress Jennifer Aniston has slapped down criticism of her recent remarks about the coronavirus vaccines, saying people “have to care about more” than themselves.

Earlier this week InStyle published an interview with Aniston, who is the cover star of its September issue. The covid vaccines came up when she was asked what she usually watches on television.

“The news,” Aniston answered.

“I’ve really had to stop (keeping it on too much). We all went through news fatigue, panic fatigue during the pandemic, because we were hoping one day we would wake up and hear something hopeful, and all we got was more insanity.

“And there’s still a large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don’t listen to the facts. It’s a real shame.

“I’ve just lost a few people in my weekly routine who have refused, or did not disclose (whether they’d been vaccinated), and it was unfortunate.

“I feel it’s your moral and professional obligation to inform, since we’re not all podded up and being tested every single day.

“It’s tricky, because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but a lot of opinions don’t feel based in anything except fear or propaganda.”

RELATED: Aniston has ‘lost friends’ over covid vaccine

Jennifer Aniston. Picture: Francois Mori/AP

Aniston got some pushback from her followers on social media, some of whom asked why she was so worried about the vaccination status of her friends, given she had already got the vaccine herself.

She highlighted one such comment on her Instagram story, and explained herself further.

“But if she’s vaccinated she’s protected correct? Why be worried about unvaxxed around her?” the commenter asked, adding a shrug emoji.

“Because if you have the variant, you are still able to give it to me,” Aniston said.

“I may get slightly sick but I will not be admitted to a hospital or die. But I can give it to someone else who does not have the vaccine and whose health is compromised (or has a previous existing condition).

“Therefore I would put their lives at risk. THAT is why I worry. We have to care about more than just ourselves here.”

She also shared a photo of some embroidery which said: “What doesn’t kill you mutates and tries again.”

Health experts worry that if the virus is allowed to continue spreading through a large number of unvaccinated Americans it could mutate again, eventually spawning a variant more resistant to the vaccines.

An image from her Instagram story, bearing the exasperated caption: “These comments.” Picture: Instagram

This isn’t the first time Aniston has waded into the covid culture war. She advocated for social distancing and other restrictions in the early months of the pandemic, and in June of 2020 she told her fans to wear face masks.

“I understand masks are inconvenient and uncomfortable. But don’t you feel that it’s worse that businesses are shutting down, jobs are being lose, health care workers are hitting absolute exhaustion?” she said at the time.

“And so many lives have been taken by this virus because we aren’t doing enough.

“I really do believe in the basic goodness of people, so I know we can all do this, but still, there are many people in our country refusing to take the necessary steps to flatten the curve and keep each other safe.

“People seem worried about their ‘rights being taken away’ by being asked to wear a mask. This simple and effective recommendation is being politicised at the expense of people’s lives. And it really shouldn’t be a debate.

“If you care about human life, please just wear a damn mask, and encourage those around you to do the same.”

Half of the American population is fully vaccinated, and about two-thirds of people have received at least one dose.

The country’s covid death toll stands at 632,000.