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Mike Rowe says he regrets what he said publicly about the pandemic lockdown
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Mike Rowe says he regrets what he said publicly about the pandemic lockdown

Reality television show star Mike Rowe addressed the debate over vaccinations in a lengthy Facebook post and said that he regretted jumping on board the lockdown campaign early on in the pandemic.

Rowe posted his response to a question by a follower of his Facebook page that asked why he hadn't encouraged people to get vaccinated.

"[W]hat are you waiting for? As you surely know, Delta is raging. The sooner we're all vaccinated, the sooner we can get back to normal!" asked Steve Manchin.

"The short answer is no - I have not publicly encouraged anyone to get vaccinated," Rowe responded.

"In fact, I have recently declined to participate in several PSA's designed to persuade people to get the jab," he added. "That's not because I'm opposed to vaccines, obviously. Vaccines have saved more lives than any other advancement in the long history of medicine, and to your point, I got the shots the minute I was eligible. But I'm not a doctor, Steve, and even though I occasionally play one on TV, I'm not inclined to dispense medical advice to the people on this page."

Rowe went on to explain that he had signed on to support the lockdown early on in the pandemic and he regretted it.

I did appear in a few PSA's early on, back when they assured us that locking down was essential to keeping our hospitals from being overrun. "Two weeks to flatten the curve!" Remember that one? That of course, turned out to be untrue, and I regret my role in helping perpetuate that particular falsehood. I also regret what I said during the first Zoom show to air in primetime. It was an episode of After the Catch, where I discussed the lockdowns with a few crab-boat captains. At one point, I looked into the camera lens on my computer and said, with uncharacteristic earnestness, "For the first time in a long time, it appears we're all in the same boat."

Rowe criticized the renewed mask mandate in California by citing statistics about the efficacy of vaccines.

"According to the CDC, just one 1 in 27,000 vaccinated people have contracted it," he explained. "That means if you're vaccinated, you're more likely to get struck by lightning than contract COVID. And yet, people are once again calling for more lockdowns, more restrictions, and more compliance from those who already got their shots."

He went on to criticize elected officials, journalists and some medical experts.

"They're always certain, usually wrong, incapable of shame, and utterly void of humility. Is it any wonder millions find them unpersuasive?" he asked rhetorically.

Rowe concluded by demanding that the government stop treating the unvaccinated like the enemy and instead a "steady flow of verifiable data that definitively proves that the vast, undeniable, overwhelming majority of people who get this disease are unvaccinated."

He added that new episodes of his show, "Dirty Work," are forthcoming.

Here's more about Mike Rowe:

Mike Rowe talks new show "Six Degrees with Mike Rowe," COVID-19 pandemic | FOX 5 DCwww.youtube.com

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