Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who made waves this week when he tested positive for COVID-19, confirmed in an interview Friday that he is unvaccinated — and claimed that the team and the NFL were “fully aware.”
Rodgers, speaking on the Pat McAfee Show Friday, said that he is in “the crosshairs of the woke mob right now” in terms of his vaccination status after having tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this week.
“So before the final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I’d like to set the record straight on some of the blatant lies that are out there about me now,” Rodgers continued.
Rodgers claimed that he didn’t lie in his initial press conference — in August, when he was asked if he was vaccinated, he replied “Yeah, I’ve been immunized” — and went on to allege that there is a “witch hunt going across the league” in terms of COVID-19 vaccination status.
The quarterback, in the interview, admitted that he has been taking a number of treatments for COVID-19, including monoclonal antibodies and Ivermectin, a parasite medicine often used on animals that has prompted clear warnings from health officials.
It is not authorized to treat COVID-19 in people or animals, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says, nor has it been found to be safe or effective. It can also cause dangerous side effects.
“Even the levels of ivermectin for approved human uses can interact with other medications, like blood-thinners,” the agency warns. “You can also overdose on ivermectin, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension (low blood pressure), allergic reactions (itching and hives), dizziness, ataxia (problems with balance), seizures, coma and even death.”
“There’s a lot of misinformation around, and you may have heard that it’s okay to take large doses of ivermectin,” they continue. “It is not okay.” [emphasis theirs]
Rodgers said he “consulted with a now good friend of mine Joe Rogan,” referring to the podcast host and comedian who has been dismissive of the COVID-19 vaccine and announced earlier this year that he contracted the coronavirus and recovered.
Rodgers said that he is “not an anti-vax flat earther,” but called himself a “critical thinker,” claiming he has an allergy to an ingredient in the mRNA vaccines (those produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that those who have “have had a severe allergic reaction or an immediate allergic reaction — even if it was not severe — to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, you should not get either of the currently available mRNA COVID-19 vaccines” but advises those individuals to consult their doctor about getting a different type of COVID-19 vaccine, such as the Johnson & Johnson shot.
Rodgers said he considered the J&J shot, but ultimately decided against it when the single-dose vaccine was linked to a rare risk of blood clots — federal health officials recommended a “pause” in use of the shot, but lifted the pause after 11 days, determining the benefits outweighed the risks.
"For me it involved a lot of studying in the offseason," Rodgers said. "I put a lot of time and energy into researching and met with a lot of different people in the medical field to get the most information about the vaccines before making a decision.”
The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, a statement that has been repeatedly backed up by doctors, scientists and public health officials, as well as numerous ongoing clinical trials.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been fully approved by the FDA for people 16 and older in the United States, and has emergency authorization for children as young as 5. Two other vaccines, from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, have also been authorized; Moderna has already sought full approval from federal regulators, and J&J said the company plans to do so later this year.
People who are unvaccinated have an 11-times greater risk of dying from the novel coronavirus than people who are fully vaccinated.
More than 752,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, with more than 5 million deaths from COVID worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
On the subject of the NFL's COVID-19 rules and regulations, Rodgers said that he does not believe "many of the policies are rooted in science" and added that when he presented his research to the league for an appeal, “I think they thought I was a quack."
Rodgers said that he "feels really good" now, but experienced symptoms for the first 48 hours after testing positive for COVID-19.
He took aim at the media repeatedly in his interview: "That's what the media's trying to do, they're trying to shame and out and cancel us non-vaccinated people."
Rodgers cannot rejoin the team for 10 days and will miss Sunday's game against Kansas City. He must also test negative before he can rejoin the team.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he would not comment Friday when asked at a press conference about Rodgers' interview.
"Ask something about the Kansas City Chiefs or our football team," he said. "I’m not gonna answer anything else."
A spokesperson for the Green Bay Packers told Spectrum News that they had no comment beyond what the coach has said this week.