- An Irish
soccer player has said he will not get the COVID-19 vaccine, though he got the virus twice. - West Brom's Callum Robinson tested positive in November then again in August.
- Robinson declined to say why he would not get vaccinated but said, "It's your choice and your body."
An Irish soccer player has said he will not get the COVID-19 vaccine even though he's already been infected by the virus twice.
West Bromwich Albion forward Callum Robinson contracted the illness in November of last year then again in August. As a result, he missed the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifiers last month.
"I just haven't, I just haven't done it," he said, according to the BBC. "I think it's your personal choice and my choice at this moment in time, I haven't been vaccinated.
"I know, as you said, there are managers and people that will want you to do it, which is right in their way, the way they think, but everyone has their choice on what they want to do. I wouldn't force people to do it, it's your choice and your body."
Klopp: Anti-vaxxers are like drunk drivers
Robinson's revelation came just days after Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp compared anti-vaxxers to drunk drivers.
"If I say I am vaccinated, other people say: 'How can you tell me I should be vaccinated?' It is a little bit like drunk driving," Klopp said, as reported by the Guardian. "We all probably were in a situation where we had a beer or two and thought we still could drive but, [because of] the law, we are not allowed to drive so we don't drive.
"But this law is not there for protecting me when I drink two beers and want to drive, it's for protecting all the other people because I'm drunk and we accept that as a law. I don't take the vaccination only to protect me, I take the vaccination to protect all the people around me. I don't understand why that is a limitation of freedom because, if it is, then not being allowed to drink and drive is a limitation of freedom as well.
"I got the vaccination because I was concerned about myself but even more so about everybody around me. If I get [COVID] and I suffer from it: my fault. If I get it and spread it to someone else: my fault and not their fault."
COVID-19 vaccines have been shown over and over to be safe and effective. The shots lower the risk of hospitalization and death 25-fold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.