Golden State Warriors: 3 Options for handling Andrew Wiggins
By Tony Pesta
Andrew Wiggins gets the shot
The Golden State Warriors and the rest of the NBA could all move on with the season if Andrew Wiggins and other players simply get the vaccine. While the FDA and CDC have deemed the vaccines safe and effective — names like Wiggins, Bradley Beal, Jonathan Isaac and Kyrie Irving remain firm in their opposition.
I think this marks a good opportunity to debunk a few talking points from these players.
“You can still catch COVID even with the vaccine.”
This is the most common criticism of the vaccine and is often listed as a reason not to bother getting vaccinated at all. And, to a degree, it is true… though rather disingenuous.
Yes, even fully vaccinated individuals have had breakthrough cases of COVID-19. However, the rate of these cases is less than %1.0 percent of the vaccinated population in each state.
What’s more, vaccinated people who experience (rare) breakthrough cases are contagious for a significantly shorter amount of time. Most of all, the vaccines are still effective at preventing death and serious illness even with a breakthrough infection.
“I’ve already had COVID” or “I am not worried about COVID impacting me”
Again, there is a bit of nuance to these two statements.
It does appear that those who have had COVID-19 in the past develop antibodies similar (and sometimes even better) than vaccinated individuals.
Yet, antibody development is inconsistent across each individual — and consulting with a doctor could still result in at least one shot of the vaccine being recommended for immunity.
Finally, the number one reason why many are arguing that NBA players do not need to be vaccinated is that they are healthy enough to ignore the dangers of COVID-19 altogether.
While this may be true, it bluntly misses the point. The goal is to minimize the spread of infection and protect those around you — including coaching staff and other team members such as trainers.
It does not matter if you are not worried about contracting COVID-19. What does matter, is limiting your ability to spread it to others.
So please, to make this as painless as possible for everybody, just get the shot, Wiggins.