Dr. Drew slammed for tweet about COVID vaccine passports

Dr. Drew Pinsky got slammed on social media Monday for injecting his opinion that COVID passports “strip” people of their freedom to travel.

The celebrity doctor, 62, argued it would be wrong to require proof that an individual is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order for them to go abroad.

“These vaccine passports segregate people and strip them of their freedom to travel internationally,” Pinsky tweeted.

“Vaccinations are important, and I encourage everyone to get the Covid vaccine, but how would you feel if international travel also required other vaccinations?”

Pinsky, an addiction specialist and internist, immediately got bashed for the tweet — with several Twitter users pointing out that many countries already do require that foreign travelers provide proof of vaccination for a slew of diseases.

“So that ‘Dr.’ before your name is completely ceremonial, right? Because I refuse to believe that an actual medical doctor doesn’t know about required vaccinations for international travel,” one person tweeted.

Another user wrote that “Some international travel does require other vaccinations. Yellow Fever, Polio, meningitis to name just a few. And why shouldn’t they be? Vaccines are safe and effective for the VAST majority of the population. This is a very irresponsible message to be sending to people.”

Others noted that people seeking to immigrate to the US also need to be vaccinated against several illnesses, and that children also need to get certain shots in order to attend public schools.

“Wait until he finds out you can’t go to college or the military without a crap ton of vaccines,” a Twitter user commented.

Several people also took jabs at Pinsky’s professional status, comparing him to a “quack” or saying that “Dr. Pepper is more of a doctor than Dr. Drew.”

The “Celebrity Rehab” star, who had COVID-19 back in October, came under fire in the early months of the pandemic for comparing the coronavirus to the flu. He later admitted equating the two was wrong.

Pinsky followed up his controversial tweet on Monday by writing that “Getting a vaccine is a choice, and I encourage everyone to get vaccinated, but why just covid?,” he added. “What about the flu, measles, polio, tetanus, HPV, pneumovax, shingrex?”