Hanks: I’m not jumping line for vax
Tom Hanks won’t be cutting the line for a COVID-19 shot.
The 64-year-old actor told “Today” on Monday that he and his wife, Rita Wilson, will delay their coronavirus inoculations.
“We’ll be getting it long after everybody who truly needs to get it,” Hanks told Savannah Guthrie during a remote interview.
The “Cast Away” star discussed his COVID-19 plan more than nine months after he and Wilson tested positive in Australia.
Calling his sickness “a rough 10 days,” Hanks said, nevertheless, it could’ve been more dire.
“But I think what’s much more important is the second half of the COVID-19 formula, that we didn’t give it to anybody,” said the actor.
Hanks was one of the first high-profile celebrities to publicize his bout with the virus and stressed the importance of sporting facial protection and maintaining proper social-distancing measures.
“Not just so that we don’t catch it but that you don’t give it to somebody in case you are one of those asymptomatic carriers,” he said.
When Guthrie asked Hanks if he would receive the vaccination publicly, he replied, “Yeah, sure.”
Notable politicians and health care workers have already gotten their vaccines on live TV, including Vice President Pence, President-elect Joe Biden and immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, who turns 80 on Thursday.
Hanks, a two-time Academy Award winner for “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump” is generating Oscar buzz for his performance in “News of the World,” which hits cineplexes Friday.
Earlier this year, Hanks received his first Oscar nomination in 19 years for his performance as Fred Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” He lost to Brad Pitt for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
Hanks is slated to star in two 2021 films, the sci-fi drama “Bios” and “Elvis,” in which he’ll assume the role of Elvis Presley’s longtime manger, Colonel Tom Parker.