Vax Populi
Former Major League Baseball player Carlos Delgado has led a successful campaign for COVID vaccinations in Puerto Rico. Photo by Anthony Correia via Shutterstock
As controversy rages over the ‘immunization’ of football star Aaron Rodgers, Latino athletes have pushed through misinformation to lead community vaccination campaigns
As soon as the news of Aaron Rodgers’ positive COVID-19 test went public, sports media realized a major scandal was about to boil over and go very public.
Rodgers is one of the National Football League’s top performers: He’s last season’s Most Valuable Player and he’d led the Green Bay Packers through a strong first half of the current season.
In August, Rodgers had said he was “immunized.” So after his recent positive test, that statement blew up, drawing widespread criticism from fans and fellow athletes, and doctors who knew better. He was accused of lying by Hall of Fame greats Terry Bradshaw (football’s Pittsburgh Steelers) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (basketball’s Los Angeles Lakers.) And the episode cast a shadow on the NFL’s plan to have players set an example on vaccinations.
The league knows how strong an influence star players are, especially on young people.
A Kaiser Family Foundation study of teens shows they admire famous athletes as much as teachers, and second only to their parents.
That’s why organizers of public vaccination campaigns have been quick to engage popular athletes. They know it works, and Latino athletes working in their communities are good evidence of that.
Just ask former Major League Baseball star Carlos Delgado.
After Aaron Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19, his past comments about being “immunized” against the virus were resurrected, kicking off a major controversy over vaccine hesitancy among some influential athletes. Photo by MPH Photos via Shutterstock
At the outset of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Puerto Rico, Delgado remembers hearing doubts about the vaccine because it would not provide full protection from the novel coronavirus. Yet, when he was asked to participate in a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in his hometown of Aguadilla, he didn’t hesitate.
“I believe the vaccine is probably the best way to end the pandemic,” Delgado said. “They were looking for people to continue to get the message across to the population. I was happy to help.”
A long-time standout player for the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets, Delgado hit 473 home runs over 16 seasons. He has star power and he’s used it, joining other celebrities on the island to urge fellow Puerto Ricans to get the jab.
Delgado is one of several athletes participating in the #ReadyParaAbrazarnos campaign, along with members of a local professional basketball team, Los Vaqueros de Bayamón, including Benito Santiago Jr. and team captain Sammy Mojica Morales. The resulting ads were shared on TV, radio, and social media, as well as on billboards across Puerto Rico, in a campaign co-sponsored by the nonprofit groups Direct Relief and VOCES, a vaccine advocacy coalition founded in 2013. The COVID-19 initiative seems to be working: The vaccination rate in Puerto Rico has surpassed 70 percent.
“Obviously, [Delgado] knows about the importance of vaccination. He agrees with the [ad] campaign. He automatically said yes … It was great working with him, ” said Ivonne Rodríguez-Wiewall, Direct Relief executive advisor.
The story of professional sports and COVID-19 is a complex one. In the early months of the pandemic, a Champions League soccer game in Milan, Italy, was cited as a super-spreader event. As a precaution, various U.S.-based leagues, including teams from the National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, and Major League Soccer played their 2020 seasons in protective bubbles -- in the case of the NBA and MLS, at Disney World. Other leagues also took preventive measures, including Major League Baseball, which shortened its 2020 season. Delgado’s old team, the Blue Jays, relocated home games from Toronto to Buffalo.
After COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out late last year, many leagues and teams strongly recommended vaccines for players and fans. Such policies have not met with universal acceptance. In the National Football League, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is among those who have declined vaccinations. Although NBA games have moved back to the home courts this season, vaccination policies have resulted in some high-profile pushback. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James only recently opted for vaccination, while Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving was benched and told he can’t even practice with the team until he was in full compliance with New York City’s vaccine mandate. It’s costing Irving big money. Nonetheless, he has supporters; hundreds showed up at the team’s home opener in October at the Barclays Center chanting “Let’s Play Kyrie!” and several stormed through the security gates.
Kyrie Irving (right) of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team is a bonafide celebrity. But he hasn’t played a game this season, as he remains unvaccinated against COVID-19. Photo by Kathy Hutchins via Shutterstock
Among Latino professional athletes, there’s a similar diversity of opinions. Their ability to influence the public is not lost on Latino athletes. The activism some have shown stems from multiple factors -- their celebrity, their bilingualism, and sometimes their personal awareness of the dangers of COVID-19. All this stands in contrast to how the media characterize some Latinos as hesitant to get the vaccine.
A firm, respectful message
The coronavirus hit Puerto Rico hard. The government responded with measures that included a lockdown. In the nonprofit sphere, the international organization Direct Relief built on its presence on the island since 2018, when it helped with the response to Hurricane María. Having previously been involved in vaccination campaigns, it pivoted quickly to fight COVID-19. A partnership developed with VOCES, and the organizations reached out to celebrities such as Delgado.
I can’t tell people what to do, but rather, promote vaccination the best I can
“We have been working with Carlos Delgado for quite a while now,” Rodríguez-Wiewall said, including with a nonprofit that Delgado runs called Xtrabases.
Delgado recognizes that not everyone will heed his vaccination message. He aims to be respectful.
“I don’t want to be the guy that’s in your face, (saying) ‘you have to get the vaccine, you have to get the vaccine,’” Delgado explained. “Everybody’s different.”
He adds, “I can’t tell people what to do,” but rather, “promote (vaccination) the best I can. … I think you want to be respectful of other people.”
MLS player Zarek Valentín of the Houston Dynamo takes a similar approach. Valentín, who is Puerto Rican, participated in a bilingual interview for an initiative urging people to get vaccinated. He advocates leaving the decision up to the individual, while providing the best possible information.
“Ultimately, I do think people have a choice,” he said, adding, “I encourage everyone to get it. Think about your neighbor.”
Valentín is also thinking about his late grandmother, who contracted the virus and died a few weeks later.
“We all miss and love her very much,” he said.
Valentíin’s wife, Elizabeth, is a nurse and has had numerous conversations with Houstonians, urging them to get vaccinated. On one occasion, she told her husband there were vaccines available but he had just 15 minutes to take advantage of the opportunity. He did so. Most of Valentín’s Dynamo teammates have also been vaccinated.
“I’m proud to play for a team where the majority of the team is vaccinated,” he said. “It’s really a very good overall Covid situation compared to other MLS teams. The guys think about the greater good, teammates, families, not putting yourself in any precarious situations.”
National Women’s Soccer League player Shirley Cruz of the Seattle-based OL Reign is also vaccinated, as are many of her teammates.
OL Reign star Shirley Cruz is on a team with a high vaccination rate, and whose fans in the stands have had to show they are vaccinated, or coronavirus-free. Photo courtesy of OL Reign
“I think everyone has to think about doing the right thing to protect other people,” said Cruz, who is from Costa Rica and has played before fans who’ve had to show vaccination cards or negative test results.
Valentin said he believes most professional athletes have been vaccinated.
“I would say, in general, overall the majority of athletes are getting vaccinated,” he said, citing the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL, the first team in the league to inoculate 100 percent of its players. “The overwhelming message is pro-getting the Covid vaccine to protect themselves and teammates, encouraging people to think about the greater good.”
“Most of the people I know, especially some of the retired athletes … most of them are vaccinated,” Delgado said. “Obviously, a big group is not vaccinated, for whatever reason. ... Everybody can do whatever they feel they have to do with their body. (But) the more people are vaccinated, the better chance we have of coming out of the pandemic quicker.”
Facts v. misinformation
Athletes interviewed for this story addressed the topic of vaccine hesitancy among Latinos, and in communities of color. A theme emerged: Misinformation.
“I think the biggest thing in terms of getting people to take the vaccine is to properly educate them,” Valentín said. “People get so defensive, so angry. There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” he added. To counter that, he said, “sit down with people in communities that are Black or Latinx … share that data … I think it’s the best way to go about it.”
Among communities of color, Delgado suggests, “there’s a little bit more of a cultural thing, going (back) before COVID. Some of the communities have less access to healthcare or good health services … Another element is, because they have not had good experiences, good health services, they may not trust health services … especially in the U.S., immigrants and minorities who do not have that kind of same access. Sometimes they may not be exposed to some of the best information.”
Noting the high COVID-19 death rate among populations of color, Delgado said, “It is sad. Once again, we go back to trying to get the right information, trying to have access to the right information, through some of the reliable sources. It’s not something that’s going to be fixed overnight. We continue to work on it.”
There’s a lot of misinformation out there … Sit down with people in communities and share that data. I think it’s the best way to go about it
He and Valentín addressed the specific questions skeptics have been raising:
“The technology may appear very new, picked up out of nowhere,” Valentín said. “It’s not the case at all. People have been using mRNA technology for years now.”
Houston Dynamo player Zarek Valentín said he got vaccinated to protect others. Photo courtesy of the Houston Dynamo.
He called the decision to get vaccinated “societal.”
“You don’t necessarily get vaccinated for yourself, but the ones who’ll be affected more by this, who would overwhelm hospitals,” Valentiín said.
When the vaccine was rolled out in Puerto Rico, Delgado recalled hearing doubts about it because it would not guarantee complete protection from COVID-19.
“It will not prevent 100 percent getting COVID,” he said, but “the chances are much lower of catching it, less chance of getting sick, and if you do get sick, less chance of dying. It’s the way I look at it.I’m not trying to play Dr. Fauci here.”
Delgado is making the most of the role he’s adopted -- fighting the pandemic by publicly advocating for vaccines through a respectful approach.
Valentín echoed Delgado’s desire for widespread vaccination.
“I’d love to see everyone do this,” Valentín said. “We’re so close to potentially bringing everyone past COVID-19. It will be a very happy day once that happens.”
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Rich Tenorio is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in international, national, regional, and local media outlets. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a cartoonist.