Bill Maher: 'I Will Never Get A Booster Shot'

Bill Maher isn't holding anything back when it comes to COVID — the Real Time with Bill Maher host said he isn't afraid to talk about the reality of the pandemic and said he'll never get a COVID booster shot.

In an interview with Deadline, Maher said his show is meant to bring up topics and ideas that other people are ignoring or are too afraid to discuss, and won't be changing that when it comes to COVID vaccines either.

"I mean, we’re in a very different place with Covid than we were just when I was on the air last time, and that is the vaccines, we know, do not prevent you from either transmitting it or getting the disease," he said. "We know that. That’s a fact now. They just prevent you from dying, which is a great part of it, let’s not undercount that. But if they don’t prevent you from transmitting it and they don’t prevent you from getting it why are we still treating this disease the way we always have? And what the fuck is the use of a booster shot? Because I will never get a booster shot."

Maher said he won't be getting the booster shot not only because it's "useless," but also because "this is a very, very new vaccine."

"Okay, I didn’t want the first vaccine. We should not treat people unfairly who want to allow their own immune system to take care of the situation," Maher said. "But okay, I took one for the team. Now, they’re giving a fourth one in Israel with the booster shots."

Maher said that as he read a front-page story in the New York Times — a publication he called "very pro-vaccine" — he said even they printed that many scientists in Israel were against this.

"... some scientists warned that the plan could backfire, because too many shots might cause a sort of immune system fatigue, compromising the body’s ability to fight the coronavirus," NYT's Isabel Kershner reported on Dec. 23.

Maher isn't blindly following the advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci and other doctors amid the pandemic.

When asked by Deadline if he agrees that many are simply exhausted by the pandemic with ever-changing standards from governments and scientists — like the changing regulations, requirements, and rules, like the recent move to quarantine now for just five days if you test positive for the virus — Maher made it clear: " don’t know a lot about anything."

"That’s not a criticism of them like they’re being corrupt although there certainly is plenty of corruption in the medical establishment. But I’ve always maintained that the big overarching theme should be that people look back and say, oh, look how far we’ve come medically," he said. "Yes, that’s true. We’re not putting wooden teeth in our mouth like in the George Washington era, and of course, we have antibiotics and lots of vaccines and lots of other things that have been miraculous. But in general, we still don’t understand too much about how the human body works."

"So, don’t sit there in your white coat and tell me just do what we say. When have we ever been wrong? A lot is my answer. A lot," Maher said. "They drilled mercury into my teeth when I was a child. Now, of course, we don’t do that anymore, but do you really think in 50 years people will look back and say, oh, yeah, we had it all figured out in 2022? No, they will be appalled at things we’re doing right now."

Not only did Maher tell Deadline he's "over COVID" heading into 2022, but he was “never scared” of the pandemic.

"I was never scared of it. I was always scared of the reaction to it, and as this has played out that only proved to be more true for me," he said. "I’m sure many people feel different, but that’s me. It was never that virulent a threat, I thought, to people who were in good health."

Maher's full interview with Deadline can be read here.