A week after an awkward media day interview in which a frustrated Andrew Wiggins made it seem like he was holding strong in his decision to not get the COVID-19 vaccine, the Warriors small forward explained his decision to ultimately get the shot after Golden State’s preseason opener on Monday.
“I feel like my only options were to get vaccinated or not play in the NBA,” Wiggins said when asked why he decided to get the shot. “It was a tough decision. Hopefully it works out in the long run and in 10 years I’m still healthy.”
Wiggins faced not being able to play in any of the Warriors home games this season, due to a vaccine mandate issued by the city of San Francisco that requires all non-visiting players in indoor arenas to have a COVID vaccine in order to participate.
For the Warriors and Wiggins, that issue is now behind them, but Wiggins made it clear that he felt “forced” into getting the shot and is still actively worried about it.
“It feels good to play, but getting vaccinated is something that’s going to stay in my mind for a long time. Not something I wanted to do but was kind of forced to.
“I guess to do certain stuff, to work and all of that, I guess you don’t own your body. That’s what it comes down to. If you want to work in society today then I guess they make the rules of what goes in your body and what you do. Hopefully there’s a lot of people out there that are stronger than me and keep fighting and stand for what they believe and hopefully it works out for them.
“Time was not on my side. The season was starting soon, I didn’t want to miss basketball. I didn’t want to get the vaccination, but it’s something I had to do.”
Wiggins then explained why he didn’t want to get the vaccine, citing primarily concerns about it affecting his longterm health, including things like gene damage and causing cancerous cells, despite the current lack of evidence that the vaccine could lead to either.
He also mentioned that an allergic reaction to a medication has made him cautious about putting anything in his body
“I had COVID before and it wasn’t too bad. A couple years ago I had an allergic reaction to something and it was a scary moment, I carry an epipen now. I know there was a lot of people getting reactions or injuries from getting the vaccination, also I don’t know what it’s going to do to me in 10 years. Gene damage; there are no studies on whether it’s going to cause cancerous cells. So I don’t know what the RNA is going to do to my body.
“There’s a lot of stuff, I feel like I can go on for days, but why I didn’t want to get it most importantly was I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t know what it’s going to do to my body in 10-15-20 years, or what it’s going to do to my kids or future kids. But I guess it’s something I had to get done.”