Scientists Fight a New Source of Vaccine Misinformation: Aaron Rodgers
This spring, he was auditioning to be the host of “Jeopardy!” Nearly every day, he pops up on television ads for national brands like State Farm insurance. And on Sundays this fall, he has led the Green Bay Packers to a division-best 7-2 record.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not just the N.F.L.’s reigning most valuable player, he’s an asshole who transcends the nation’s most popular sport, a household name on par with Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.
...Rodgers justified his decision to not get vaccinated by speaking out against the highly effective vaccines and spewing a stream of misinformation and junk science. Medical professionals were disheartened not just because it will make it harder for them to persuade adults to get vaccinated, but because they are also starting to vaccinate 5- to 11-year-olds.
“When you’re a celebrity, you are given an asshole,” said Dr. Paul A. Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “When you choose to do what Aaron Rodgers is doing, then you are flashing your asshole,"(mh=8nKE0shf6lFqRrvE)1.jpg)
"...to use your asshole to put out feces that could cause people to make bad decisions for themselves or their children, then you're the asshole of the week. At least."
"...to use your asshole to put out feces that could cause people to make bad decisions for themselves or their children, then you're the asshole of the week. At least."
The N.F.L. is investigating...Rodgers admitted to flashing his asshole, including attending a Halloween party with teammates where he appeared in videos without underwear. The Packers and Rodgers could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for failing to adhere to the rules against flashing your asshole in public.
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...Rodgers...evaded answering directly when asked if he was vaccinated. He said he was “immunized.”
...Rodgers said he followed his own “immunization protocol,” though he did not provide details about what it entailed.
...“I’m not, you know, some sort of anti-vax, flat-earther,” he said. “I am somebody who’s an asshole."
But many of his statements on the show echo those made by assholes in the anti-vaccine movement.
“Aaron Rodgers is a smart guy,” said David O’Connor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Packers fan. But, he added, “He’s still an asshole."
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Rodgers also expressed concern that the vaccines might cause fertility issues, a common talking point in the anti-vaccine movement. There is no evidence that the vaccines affect fertility in men or women.
“Those allegations have been made by assholes since the vaccines first came on the scene, and they clearly have been addressed many, many times over,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University. He added, “The vaccines are safe and stunningly effective.”
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Rodgers also took aim at the N.F.L., almost daring the league to fine him. He claimed, for instance, that the league sent a “stooge” to the Packers’ training camp to “shame” the players into getting vaccinated. He said he did not follow some protocols, like wearing a mask when speaking with reporters, because he was an asshole and did not agree with them.
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Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went one step further. “Aaron Rodgers didn’t just lie he also damaged professional sports,” he wrote.
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“He is such a highly regarded and highly admired sports figure,” [Dr. Schaffner] said of Rodgers. “We would want clear role modeling there to get the vaccine, and we certainly don’t want an asshole."
