Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson revealed earlier this month that, despite being fully vaccinated, he'd tested positive for COVID, forcing him to postpone the final dates of his UK spoken word tour to October. He said at the time that he'd felt "a bit groggy, kind of like the flu," and emphasized that "I’ve pretty much got no doubt that had I not had the vaccine, I could be in serious trouble." He's talked more about his experience, and his support of COVID vaccines, and masking, in a new interview with Yahoo! Music. "My belief is — and I stress, it's a belief — that this proves that I would have been more sick if I've not taken the vaccine," he told Yahoo!. "I mean, I had both jabs. Everybody I know has had both jabs. And I'm quite happy about it. You know, none of us have started growing extra heads, suddenly wanting sidle up to 5G phones, or expressed a willingness to go down on Bill Gates. So, all of these things, I think it's largely a myth!"

He also addressed vaccine hesitancy, telling Yahoo! that he "honestly find it incredible that some people are still resistant [to vaccines]… And I mean, the [anti-]mask thing I genuinely do not understand." He also doesn't think people's beliefs are rooted in politics, continuing to Yahoo!, "I think they believe [conspiracy theories] because of their psychological makeup. They have a need to believe in these things. It's the same as people that are going to sit on top of a mountain every year and wait for the world to end. And the world doesn't end, but do they modify their beliefs? Actually, no. It strengthens them: 'Yep, we were right all along. It is definitely going to end, just not this year. The rest of the world is against us!' And that's the way that some people think. It's their mentality, and you're probably not going to change that. But for the rest of us I would say, just get vaccinated. And if you do get sick, you won't get that sick. It'll just be like a mild case of the flu."

Read the interview in full on Yahoo! Music.

Iron Maiden's first album in six years, Senjutsu, arrives this Friday (pre-order on 180g triple black vinyl), and you can hear the most recent track they've shared off of it, "Stratego," below.

Get Iron Maiden vinyl and merch in the BV store.