>> Okay. >> Get away from me, get away from me.
>> I'm not in anybody's face. >> Get away.
>> You are in my face and you don't have a mask, so, you need to back out.
>> The anti-vax crowd. >> You're not gonna take the vaccine?
>> Absolutely not.
>> What if Trump came out and said, please, please, take this vaccine?
>> No. >> Continuing their efforts-
>> In mutating the virus. >> I feel about vaccines like I feel about
tests. This is gonna go away without a vaccine. >> And spreading damning misinformation.
>> So what are you worried about?
What are you worried about? >> Took his mask off.
>> Mask Nazi. >> And policing the responsible ones in this
country. >> I'm sure you've seen the pictures all over
the Internet, of people who've had these shots and now they're magnetized.
>> Disney, you're a kinda mask whores, I'm not gonna lie.
>> Plan- >> Demic.
>> Freedom. >> We're not getting vaccinated.
>> No, I'm never gonna take the vaccine. >> Why do I want somebody to push something
up onto me, and it's not? >> I'm perfectly healthy and fine. We're not
gonna die for it.
And you know what, if we do, maybe it was our time to go cuz we believe in God.
>> With a global pandemic hitting during a conspiracy-filled election year, doubts about
a coronavirus vaccine have already spread beyond the traditional sceptics.
>> Which brings us to the Chicago Cubs' Anthony Rizzo.
You see the star first baseman, who helped the north siders win the World Series in 2016.
Their first in 108 years, expresses the same sentiments on vaccines.
>> I'm not getting the vaccine because I'm honestly not scared of the virus.
>> To this- >> I'm not gonna get the COVID vaccine.
I don't feel like I'm, I don't know, I just feel like I'm good. I don't need to, I take
vitamins and whatnot. And I'm pretty healthy, so.
>> And even this, Rizzo made his comments clear about the vaccines.
>> As of right now, like I said, for personal reasons, it's obviously not an easy decision
to make, but I think it's best for me and my family right now, but with this stuff,
it's just, this is bigger than baseball.
This is a life decision. This isn't a career decision right now and it's definitely, like
I said it weighed hard. It's a decision that I made and I stand with.
>> Okay, aside from this unhinged view, Anthony Rizzo is a cancer survivor. Per ESPN, he regularly
meets with young cancer patients, though, per Jesse Rogers, that currently is on hold
because of the pandemic.
Ironically, he said this of leadership. >> You go out there every day and play your
best baseball. Don't be an idiot off the field and just continue to be smart and be aware
of everything going on. >> As CBS Radio's Dan Bernstein wrote in his
column, it's being a bad teammate in this case, and for absolutely no good reason.
But it wasn't just Rizzo. Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward, another member of the 2016
championship team, told local media he still has not received his vaccine. Heyward reportedly
said the choice of getting vaccinated should be a player's own decision. And pointed to
a past reaction to a flu shot, quote, I was out of it for three days and I was younger,
close quote, as a reason for not wanting to take the vaccine during the season.
Of course, he would be out for much longer than three days if he were to test positive
for the virus. He also reportedly complained that the media doesn't cover adverse reactions
to the virus enough, even though we do. And seemed to claim that Cubs players were relatively
safe because of how frequently they get tested.
Somehow this makes sense. So Bernstein went off. We have yet to hear a valid explanation
from any of those on the record or rumored to be avoiding inoculation from the disease.
Only a pathetic word-salad of pseudoscience and whataboutism that somehow gets presented
as a valid opposite side by reporters apparently just afraid of backlash from one of the most
ignorant and dangerous segments of modern society.
Well put, Cubs shortstop Javier Baez, has done PSAs for Walgreens on the vaccine, quote,
we wanna be safe out there. We obviously want to end this pandemic. The smart thing to do
right now is to get vaccinated, he said. As for his talks, with Rizzo and the like, we
discuss it, Baez said, if you wanna call it, we argued about it, but at the end of the
day, we respect each other.
Currently, the Cubs are one of eight major league teams that remain below the 85% threshold
to ease restrictions which include, wearing masks in the dugout, and limiting mobility
on road trips. Team president, Jed Hoyer has expressed pessimism about the Cubs reaching
the mark. To no avail, it appears, with meaningless canards like, personal decision used as shields
against the criticism.
That should be raining down from reasonable people and from any fans who actually understand
the competitive disadvantage at which it places their team. Slamming your own head in a car
door on purpose is also a personal decision, but at least it doesn't endanger or inconvenience
others.