TESLA bassist Brian Wheat, who is promoting his recently released autobiography, “Son Of A Milkman: My Crazy Life With Tesla”, spoke to Sofa King Cool about what the touring circuit might look like post-pandemic. He said (hear audio below): “I don’t know how it’s gonna be, man. First, let’s get it started back up. But I don’t know how it’s gonna be different. I imagine everyone’s gonna be wearing a fucking mask, right? I don’t know, man. Who knows? You’ve got this vaccine now, so that’s gotta help.”
Asked if he will get the COVID-19 vaccine, Brian said: “I don’t know… A lot of people are just waitin’ and seein’. I don’t know if I’m gonna get the vaccine or not. I mean, I’m probably gonna have to, only in the sense that I think the government or whatever — because the government now is really trying to run your fucking life — are gonna make you do it, or they’re not gonna let you go back to work… So, I imagine I’m gonna have to. But I’m gonna put it off.
“I don’t know if it’s good or bad, this vaccine,” he continued. “It’s like anything — when they had polio, and they had a vaccine for polio, it took a while for everyone to figure it out, how to do it. It’s in the early stages, but thank god President Trump was able to get that thing put together in nine months, ’cause it could have took [sic] 10 years, man. And a lot of people wanna bag on President Trump, but the one thing that people can’t take away from the fucking guy — whether you love him or hate him — is he got a vaccine in nine months. That’s pretty fucking remarkable. So, hats off to the man. Give the guy a little bit of credit.”
Former U.S. president Donald Trump has repeatedly credited Operation Warp Speed initiative with providing the money and resources the government and private companies need to bring a vaccine to the population quickly. But Pfizer, the company behind the vaccine which received FDA approval in early December, has distanced itself from Operation Warp Speed. In early November, Kathrin Jansen, a Pfizer executive, told The New York Times Pfizer was “never part” of Operation Warp Speed, and that the company had “never taken any money from the U.S. government.” However, Pfizer did agree to a $1.95 billion purchase order with the federal government, providing the company a massive guaranteed market if the vaccine proved to be safe and effective.
In November, Trump reportedly fumed that Pfizer intentionally withheld an announcement about progress on its vaccine trial until after Election Day. This despite the fact that Pfizer itself did not receive the preliminary results from its independent study monitors until that group met five days after the election.
“Son Of A Milkman: My Crazy Life With Tesla” arrived on December 15 via Post Hill Press.
TESLA spent most of 2019 touring in support of its latest album, “Shock”, which was released in March of that year via UMe. The follow-up to 2014’s “Simplicity” was produced by DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen.
