Yahoo Movies Jonathan Van Ness shares COVID-19 vaccine selfie after his HIV status makes him eligible
Jonathan Van Ness is the latest celebrity to share a vaccination selfie.
On Monday, the 33-year-old Queer Eye star posted a selfie showing him getting the COVID-19 vaccine in his shoulder. Van Ness, who revealed that he is HIV-positive in his 2019 memoir, Over the Top, went on to explain that he was eligible for the vaccine in New York State because of that pre-existing condition.
Van Ness, who has spent most of the pandemic in Texas with his new husband, Mark Peacock, urged any followers who might also be living with HIV to research their own state guidelines to determine their vaccine eligibility, adding, "had I not been looking online every day I wouldn't have seen, so def get involved with your search."
The hair guru said that he experienced no side effects "other than minor soreness" in his arm, and expects to get his second shot in a few weeks. Busy Philipps, Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan and fellow Queer Eye host Tan France were among the commenters cheering on his successful vaccination.
Van Ness was 25 when he was diagnosed with HIV, but hesitated to make his status public until 2019, a decision he's said was prompted by what he saw as then-President Donald Trump's threatening of LGBTQ rights.
“When Queer Eye came out, it was really difficult because I was like, ‘Do I want to talk about my status?'" he told the New York Times that year. “And then I was like, ‘The Trump administration has done everything they can do to have the stigmatization of the LGBT community thrive around me.’ I do feel the need to talk about this.”
Other celebrities who have spoken publicly about being vaccinated include Steve Martin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Samuel L. Jackson, Tyler Perry, Martha Stewart, Joan Collins, Christie Brinkley, Judi Dench, Billy Crystal, Spike Lee and Ozzy Osbourne. The Talk co-host Amanda Kloots, whose husband Nick Cordero died of COVID-19 last July, also just announced her own vaccination after waiting at a site for any extra doses; the 38-year-old later told critics not to "vaccine-shame" her.
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