Montez Sweat wants no part of the COVID-19 vaccine just yet.
The NFL has put forth efforts for players to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and has urged players to get the shots. The Washington Football Team has also taken steps to educate their players on the coronavirus vaccine, hosting vaccine experts to explain the benefits aside from purely football reasons.
Washington D-lineman Montez Sweat, though, isn’t buying it. The third-year player says he has not gotten the vaccine and doesn’t plan to — until he actually gets the virus.
Rivera said they brought in vaccine experts. Montez Sweat says he’s not going to get the vaccine “until i get more facts. I’m not a fan of it. I haven’t caught Covid yet so I don’t see me treating Covid until I actually get Covid. Everybody is entitled to their own decision.”
— John Keim (@john_keim) June 9, 2021
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“I’m not a fan of it,” Sweat said. “I probably won’t get vaccinated until we get more facts and that type of stuff, but I’m not a fan of it at all. I haven’t caught COVID yet, so I don’t see me treating COVID until I actually get COVID. …
“Obviously, they (Washington) want everybody to be vaccinated to move more freely around the facility and around as we’re traveling and that type of stuff. But everybody has their own beliefs and they’re entitled to their own decision.”
Vaccinations are used as preventative measure to protect people against diseases and viruses, so Sweat’s assertion that he wants to wait to treat COVID until he actually gets COVID seems like a dangerous, contradictory position. Also confusing is that Sweat wants to get more “facts” on the situation, despite experts being brought in to the building to extol the virtues of the shot.
New coronavirus cases in the United States have plummeted since January, when the vaccine was beginning to be introduced to the public. Some vaccines have been proven to have a 95 percent efficacy rate in preventing serious illness and hospitalizations. Side effects of the vaccine range from arm soreness to fevers which can last for a day or two.
A minuscule percentage of vaccinated individuals had life-threatening side effects.
Washington actually did a very good job navigating the pandemic in 2020, as the Team was one of a few squads that wasn’t directly affected by the virus, having just one positive test.
But, hey, his body, his choice. Even if his choice might cost him his health or his team’s long-term.