Dear Aaron: Thank You for Helping Debunk Anti-Vaxxers
Green Bay’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers is getting large publicity in all responsible publications and TV news for his catching Covid-19 and misleading people about having been vaccinated. But more than that, he appeared on TV and gave a rundown on all of the anti-vaxx malinformation which he apparently believes. All of the responsible articles are debunking each of those hoaxes one by one. It is probably the largest source of debunking especially to those men and women who are absorbed by football this season.
Rodgers actually fell for and participated in several of the false protection scams. He actually took ivermectin. Look, I know there are a lot of cows in Wisconsin, but that doesn’t mean that he needed to get rid of cow worms. The fact that Rodgers got Covid shows that that didn’t work. He also was treated by Homeopathy. The news sources are pointing out that there are thousands of studies that show that Homeopathy prevents or cures nothing. It will be interesting to see what the response of that large industry will be. Again, it didn’t work preventing Covid. One of the articles said in answer to the fear that the vaccine would cause infertility, that the facts were the opposite of that. It has also been well documented that pregnant women or those planning on pregnancy should get the vaccine. I have read that as far as dating goes, your chances are much better at getting one if you are vaccinated.
But Rodgers’ malaction does not stop there. He did not wear a mask, as if he was vaccinated, and said he and others would have been protected because others were wearing masks. That is, in fact, probably why he caught the virus. When asked if he was vaccinated, he fibbed by saying that he was ‘immunized’. These actions were in violation of NFL and union rules.
I still don’t understand how top athletes would risk getting Covid and loosing even a small percentage of lung or heart capacity, all of which are necessary for their highly paid superior performances. If their coaches or teams knew that they were unvaccinated they could have put them in contact with innumerable doctors and immunologists to convince them of their value. The lead athletes also have their lucrative advertising contracts at stake.
We might even point out their roles as community and national influencers and leaders. Quarterback Rodgers was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player last year, for the third time. Listen up, LeBron James, who at long last did finally get vaccinated.
I was first going to write a humorous approach to the article, thanking Rodgers for debonking the hoaxes. My new word “debonking” comes because Rodgers is 37, and may have been playing football from the age of 5, and maybe as quarterback. That means that he has been bonked an enormous number of times over 32 years. While targeting is being heavily penalized these days, that wasn’t always true. And we all know that rough and swift tackles or falls can have a similar shock as a concussion. So I was going to argue that if anybody would have been susceptible to scams and hoaxes it would be Rodgers, and we should sympathize with him. There is also the factor that he lives in Wisconsin, which is gerrymandered to 62% Republican, despite Biden winning and State offices becoming Democratic. Other believers in known web misinformers and Foxes have no such excuse as Rodgers has.
Us teachers always wonder where such misbelievers were educated. I am embarrassed to say that Rodgers play two years at UC Berkeley, where he majored in history. He left before he completed his degree. He did get an honorary degree from the Medical School of Wisconsin fundraising for cancer, which was well deserved. Still, I bet they are squirming a bit now.
Anyway, I wish him a good recovery, and that he get monoclonal antibodies and antivirals if needed. I also wish he would say that he as learned more about vaccines, and promises to get them when he gets better.
