Sean Penn says COVID-19 vaccinations should be mandatory ‘like turning your headlights on … at night’ | TheHill – The Hill

Actor and film director Sean Penn said that everyone should be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine, which he saidshould be as mandatory as turning your headlights on in a car at night during a CNN interview on Saturday.

CNN host Michael SmerconishMichael SmerconishCNN's Smerconish lauds Trump on ,000 relief checks: 'Most effective thing he's done' post election Trump attacks former DHS secretary over criticism of federal crackdown Former Homeland Security secretary says DHS not meant to be 'president's personal militia' MORE asked Penn about thecircumstancessurrounding why he was holding off on working with the cast and crew of the Gaslit TV series. Variety reported that Penn had taken issue with the way that their studio, NBCUniversal, was managing COVID-19 requirements among its cast and crew.

The studio was requiring that all Zone A actors and crew members (those in close proximity) had to be vaccinated but did not impose that requirement on others, according to CNN. Penn has maintained that all actors and crew should be vaccinated.

Actor and activist Sean Penn says he believes Covid-19 vaccinations should be mandatory.

You can't go around pointing a gun in somebody's face, which is what it is when people are unvaccinated, he tells @smerconish. https://t.co/oKYltfCANn pic.twitter.com/4tfNWdobnh

I didn't want to feel complicit in something that was just taking care of one group, but not the other and I -- and I do believe that everyone should get vaccinated, Penn said.

I believe it should be mandatory, like turning your headlights on in a car at night, but obviously that's not going to happen tomorrow and yet, at least it can happen in some areas and businesses, a lot of businesses are starting to take the lead on that. So I'll go back to Gaslit, I'll go back when I can be assured that 100 percent of the crew has gotten vaccinated, he continued.

Penns remarks underscore the tension felt between Americans, businesses and localities that have tried to find ways to manage the COVID-19 as the delta variant spreads its way among unvaccinated communities, contributing to a surge of new COVID-19 cases.

Some cities, including New York City and New Orleans, have started imposing proof of vaccination requirements to enter indoor facilities. For many schools, mask mandates have been imposed with some pointing to the fact that some students are not yet old enough to receive the COVID-19 vaccines.

The United States logged 157,450 new cases on Friday, per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A month prior, on July 20, the U.S. saw 52,765 new cases.

According to the CDC, 71 percent of those aged 12 years and older are partially vaccinated and 60 percent are fully vaccinated.

Editors note: The author of this story is a former employee of NBC News, a brand of NBCUniversal.

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Sean Penn says COVID-19 vaccinations should be mandatory 'like turning your headlights on ... at night' | TheHill - The Hill