Hamish Blake Politely Shut Down Anti-Vaxxers Who Claimed He Was “Paid” To Get Vaccinated
"Don’t take medical advice from me. I didn’t go to medical school, I’m not a doctor. But you know who is a doctor? Your doctor. Talk to them."
Two weeks after Celeste Barber shut down anti-vax trolls who were upset over her vaccination photo, national treasure Hamish Blake has politely done the same.
Proudly posting about his vaccination to Instagram yesterday, Blake shared a photo of his freshly vaxxed arm with a lengthy caption that spoke of the importance of listening to doctors and not people on social media — including himself.
“Jabba Dabba Done. Tried to get my vaccine right through the Olympic Rings, but understand correct needle placement overruled symbolic photo op,” Blake wrote.
“To be honest, I feel immensely grateful to live in an age where super-smart people are able to do incredible things like make a vaccine for something that has ground the world to a halt.”
“Now, I know I’m going to get heaps of comments like ‘Oh my god! Your tatts are amazing! Where did you get them!?’ which is super flattering, thank you, but it’s not why I’m posting this.”
“What I REALLY hope is that by posting this, it lands in front of the eyes of someone who is quietly unsure about getting vaccinated,” Blake said. “And if that’s you, sweet reader, my request is this: Don’t take medical advice from me. I didn’t go to medical school, I’m not a doctor.”
“But you know who is a doctor? Your doctor. Talk to them. And only them. Have a discussion with someone who has studied medical science for years and years and years about this, then see how you feel about participating in this effort. That’s all.”
“Gotta say hats off to the staff of NSW Health, watching the massive effort being run and thousands of people out at Homebush fills you with hope. Thanks to everyone who’s working so hard at the front line,” he ended his caption. “Go Australia.”
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While the majority of Hamish Blake’s comments were filled with people praising the podcaster for using his celebrity status — and platform of over a million followers — to encourage vaccination, anti-vaxxers weren’t happy.
“So disappointed and now unfollowing!” wrote one person. “Wow congratulations, true hero you are,” said another who ended their comment with two clown emojis. Others just simply used their trusty sheep emoji to convey their rage towards Blake’s photo.
But there was one anti-vaxxer comment so foolish that Blake felt the need to politely clap back.
“Unfollow now, did you get paid for this??” asked one confused person.
“No. Call me wild, but maybe saving the life of a vulnerable person I don’t know, or at the very least helping the country get out of this is payment enough!” said Blake, shutting down any ideas that he was somehow accepting payment for simply doing the right thing.
“Thanks for asking though, weirdly, this seems to come up a lot on people’s posts I notice.”
Image credit: @hamishblakeshotz / Instagram
Naturally, this iconic shutdown inspired others to take the piss out of anti-vaxxers under Blake’s photo.
“Can’t believe you’ve used this platform and your celebrity status to influence people into getting tatts!! You’ve lost touch,” one joker wrote. “Awesome work getting the vax though. Lessgooo Straya.”
“If you don’t turn into a zombie in the next 24 hours I’m sold and I’ll do it,” quipped another.
Now here’s just hoping Hamish Blake commemorates his vaccination by creating a mechanical floating needle cake that splurts out a frosting vaccine… and documents that on his Instagram for us, too.