Eric Clapton Details ‘Severe Reactions Which Lasted Ten Days’ After Receiving AstraZeneca Vaccine

As far as obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine is concerned, it’s an ultimate “your results may vary” situation — and as far as Eric Clapton is concerned, the guitar icon’s experience skewed heavily toward the “rough” category, at least according to a new report from Rolling Stone.

In a letter Clapton apparently wrote to Italian filmmaker Robin Monotti Graziadei (confirmed by Rolling Stone), Clapton detailed his experience after obtaining the AstraZeneca vaccine:

“I took the first jab of AZ and straight away had severe reactions which lasted ten days. I recovered eventually and was told it would be twelve weeks before the second one …,” reads Clapton’s letter.

“About six weeks later I was offered and took the second AZ shot, but with a little more knowledge of the dangers. Needless to say the reactions were disastrous, my hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I feared I would never play again, (I suffer with peripheral neuropathy and should never have gone near the needle.) But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone…”

That “But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone …” excerpt is consistent with Clapton’s publicly known point of view regarding the vaccine, especially considering his involvement with “Stand and Deliver,” the aggressive “anti-lockdown” song that was the creative result of a team-up with Van Morrison:

More from the Eric Clapton letter, per Rolling Stone‘s story:

“I continue to tread the path of passive rebellion and try to tow the line in order to be able to actively love my family, but it’s hard to bite my tongue with what I now know. 

“Then I was directed to Van [Morrison]; that’s when I found my voice, and even though I was singing his words, they echoed in my heart,” Clapton wrote. “I recorded ‘Stand and Deliver’ in 2020, and was immediately regaled with contempt and scorn.”

Clapton also reveals in the letter that he performed on “Where Have All the Rebels Gone?”, one of the tracks on Van Morrison’s new (and rather controversial) double album, Latest Record Project Volume 1: