The fault in our stars: Aaron Rodgers reminds us why celebrity shouldn’t trump science

They say never meet your heroes. What makes them great astronauts, actors or athletes doesn’t always make them great elsewhere in life. Take Aaron Rodgers. The Green Bay Packers quarterback is undeniably great at playing football. He has won Most Valuable Player of the National Football League (NFL) three times. His team won the Superbowl in 2011 and he holds numerous records. But it’s what’s happening above the shoulder pads that’s receiving attention recently: After insinuating that he was protected against COVID-19, it turns out that he never received a vaccine. And he has recently tested positive for the virus. As doctors, we don’t take pleasure in his misfortune or say, “We told you so,” even if getting vaccinated is exactly what medical experts have recommended as the best protection against COVID-19. Nor do we challenge his freedom of speech. Read: Steps we can take to improve access to family medicine But we’re burned out by the pandemic’s effects on an already broken system and misinformation from Rodgers and others with a celebrity platform or a large following is harmful. Misinformation emboldens those who believe falsehoods and has led to physical violence against doctors, death threats against public health officials and protesters blocking cancer patients from entering hospitals. Since the scientific triumph of safe and effective vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, I’ve had many discussions with patients. When they start with “I’m not an anti-vaxxer,” they inevitably decline vaccine anyway. Similarly, Rodgers defends his celebrity credibility as someone who is “not some sort of anti-vaxx flat Earther. I am somebody who’s a critical thinker” and that he “did his own research.” Yet he has amplified dangerous and disproven myths about the COVID-19 vaccine. Rodgers said that vaccines could impact fertility; there is neither proof nor plausibility to this statement. Read: In-person or in trouble? B.C. docs told to bring routine visits back to the clinic He said he’s “allergic to an ingredient” in both the Pfizer and Moderna products, despite no mention of having these rare allergies confirmed by an allergist. He said “we don’t know a whole lot about” the vaccine, although after seven billion doses we do know a lot. And so far the evidence is clear: the vaccine is effective against a virus that has killed over five million people globally and more than 750,000 in Rodgers’ America. Rodgers also repeats other common unfounded anti-vaccine arguments in saying, “this idea that it’s the pandemic of the unvaccinated is just a total lie . . . If the vaccine is so great, then how come people are still getting COVID and spreading COVID?” Studies show that unvaccinated people are more likely to get COVID-19. Research awaiting peer review shows they are more likely to spread it, and are more likely to get really sick and die it. The vaccine is not perfect, but it leads to better protection than “natural immunity.” Avoiding vaccination because some vaccinated people get sick is like saying that impaired driving laws are useless because some sober drivers still have car accidents. Rodgers believes strongly in “bodily autonomy.” Others care about that too. Such as people most at risk of COVID-19 like those with cancer or autoimmune diseases. Such as parents like me with young children who are not yet eligible to get the vaccine. Rodgers also dogwhistles his followers in citing ivermectin and homeopathy. Despite case reports ivermectin has not been shown in studies to improve COVID-19 outcomes and a rare publication that did show an effect was retracted because the authors fabricated trial participants that didn’t exist. As for homeopathy, that has not proven better than placebo for any condition. Read: They called us heroes, now treat us like people Further to his anti-science and anti-vaccine statements, Rodgers has shown anti-mask behaviour, appearing without facial covering indoors at work and in the community, endangering himself and others. The NFL fined Rodgers US$14,650, or 0.04% of his US$33.5 million salary. I get that vaccination is an emotional subject; if the battle were about facts, anti-vaccine sentiments would have been eradicated years ago, like smallpox. Trust is vitally important. And for every Aaron Rodgers who is free to speak untruths, we need more science-informed celebrities like Ryan Reynolds, Mindy Kaling, Ariana Grande, Tyler Perry and Dolly Parton, who also helped fund Moderna vaccine research. Historically, Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald were critical in instilling trust in the government’s vaccine rollout when polio vaccine hesitancy was 50%. So when it comes to meeting your heroes, maybe it’s a good thing. Rather than supporting the view that they are untouchable stars up high, they remind us that we are all human and susceptible to viruses and viral misinformation alike. Eric Cadesky is a community-based doctor in Vancouver.

The fault in our stars: Aaron Rodgers reminds us why celebrity shouldn’t trump science

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