The NBA has a big vaccination issue. Well, it's not big because of how many players are unvaccinated – recent reports say that 95% of players are vaccinated against COVID-19.
The issue is that the 5% are loud minorities who happen to be big names in the NBA. Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, and Andrew Wiggins are some of the notable players who have expressed their negative stance against the vaccine. In a recent interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading figure in the fight against COVID-19, gave a stern lecture to these anti-vax NBA players.
“Well, you know, you tell them [anti-vax NBA players] that it’s untrue. I mean, the fact is these are people, they’re not stupid people. And yet, they are somehow or other, been convinced of things that are just not factual… I mean, you look at the data. The data are overwhelming that these are highly effective and safe. And if you look at the track record of vaccines in general, what they’ve done for society and the benefit/risk ratio overwhelmingly weighs in favor of the benefit. And it’s just factual. Sometimes it’s inexplicable that people can look at data and just say it doesn’t exist. I mean, it does.”
Fauci reiterates what many professionals in the medical industry have reiterated: the vaccines are proven to be effective. Contrary to whatever belief Irving may have about the shot, the vaccine has statistical evidence to show that yes, it does work. Yes, NBA players are entitled to do their own research regarding the vaccine. However, it seems that most players are doing the wrong kind of research or are simply not looking hard enough.
Fortunately, almost everyone in the league is vaccinated, which means an outbreak is less likely to derail the NBA season. However, it's not a good look for these NBA stars with huge followings to be against the COVID-19 vaccine. Hopefully, Irving and co. get to the right conclusion and realize that the vaccine is truly effective.
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