‘The Science is Unequivocal’: Elon Musk Says He’s Vaccinated, But He’s ‘Against Forcing People to Be Vaccinated’
Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk told TIME magazine he is against vaccine mandates during an interview with the publication after he was named “Person of the Year” on Monday.
Musk sat down for an interview with the publication’s Jeffrey Kluger to discuss his career, his companies and his at-times controversial opinions and decisions. After Kluger reminded Musk he ordered a Tesla factory to open in Northern California just weeks into the Covid-19 pandemic, Kluger asked the billionaire about his vaccine status.
“Are you vaccinated?” Kluger asked.
“Yes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I’m very, very pro-vaccination,” he quickly answered. “The science is unequivocal. I treat it to that effect.”
“But by the same token, I am against forcing people to be vaccinated,” Musk equally quickly added. “You know, I think this is just not something we should do in America.”
“I think we should encourage people to be vaccinated, strongly try to convince them to be vaccinated, but not force them to be vaccinated or for example, force them to to get vaccinated or get fired,” Musk said.
Musk courted controversy both online and in Alameda County, California, last May when he announced on Twitter that he had ordered Tesla’s Fremont factory to open after it had closed two months prior.
Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020
He later made numerous statements which were interpreted to have been dismissive of the public health emergency.
In November, the eccentric billionaire and wealthiest person in the world tweeted, “Something extremely bogus is going on. Was tested for covid four times today. Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse. Rapid antigen test from BD.”
