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Rita Wilson explains why she and Tom Hanks haven't gotten COVID-19 vaccine yet

Wilson says she and her husband of more than 30 years "are in line" to get their dose.
/ Source: TODAY

Rita Wilson says she and husband Tom Hanks have not gotten the COVID-19 vaccine.

The stars were two of the most well-known faces of the early days of the pandemic, having announced in March 2020 that they had contracted the virus while they were in Australia.

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92nd Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson announced they had contracted the coronavirus in March 2020.Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic

Wilson, who was Hoda Kotb’s surprise co-host on Friday’s TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, talked to Hoda about how she’s feeling as people continue to get vaccinated while it looks like we may start to resume our lives again.

“It's been so emotional. We haven’t gotten our vaccine yet. How about hearing this for the first time in your life: ‘You’re not old enough.’ It’s like, ‘OK, I’ll take that!’" she said.

“But we are in line now because so many people are vaccinated and they're opening up to the next tier.”

Wilson, 64, remains optimistic about what the future holds.

“But, yes, even when we found out we had antibodies and that was extraordinary because you knew you had some protection, that’s what the vaccine is also helping people,” she said.

“To witness people hugging each other for the first time in a year, grandparents hugging their grandchildren, people hugging their parents, there’s nothing like that. That is truly a gift.”

Last December, Hanks, 64, told TODAY he would publicly get the vaccine to convince more people that it's safe, while also noting he and Wilson were not at the top of the list.

“We'll be getting it long after everybody who truly needs to get it gets it,” he said.

The beloved actor, who remotely hosted "Saturday Night Live" last April in the show's first episode since the pandemic struck, has spoken about the experience he and Wilson had with coronavirus.

"Rita went through a tougher time than I did," he told “The National Defense Radio Show” last April. “She had a much higher fever and she had some other symptoms. She lost her sense of taste and smell. She got absolutely no joy from food for a better part of three weeks."

The Oscar-winning star, who donated plasma to help other people who have the virus, also made some scathing remarks about people who don't wear masks.

"There’s really only three things we can do in order to get to tomorrow: Wear a mask, social distance, wash our hands," he said at a virtual press conference while promoting his Apple+ movie "Greyhound" last summer. "Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things — I just think shame on you. Don’t be a p----. Get on with it, do your part."

During a July appearance on TODAY, the "Forrest Gump" star noted that everybody must step up in the face of the pandemic.

"The idea of doing one's part, though, should be so simple — wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands," he said.

"That alone means you are contributing to the betterment of your house, your work, your town, your society as a whole, and it's such a small thing. It's a mystery to me how somehow that has been wiped out of what should be ingrained in the behavior of us all."

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