Washington Football Team’s Ron Rivera went off on a certain “news agency” and others putting out “a bunch of misinformation” about the COVID-19 vaccine that’s “leading people to die.”
“Gen Z is relying on this,” Rivera shared, holding up his phone during an interview with Sports Illustrated magazine in a piece published on Monday. The comments were noted by TMZ.
“And you got some, quite frankly, fucking assholes, that are putting a bunch of misinformation out there, leading people to die,” he added. “That’s frustrating to me, that these people are allowed to have a platform.” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Ron Rivera is going OFF on the people spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation … calling them “f***ing a**holes.” https://t.co/AqKIqRl04t
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 16, 2021
“And then, one specific news agency, every time they have someone on, ‘I’m not a doctor, but the vaccines don’t work,'” the coach continued. “Or, ‘I’m not an epidemiologist, but vaccines are going to give you a third nipple and make you sterile.’ Come on. That, to me? That should not be allowed.” (RELATED: Fox News Poll: Americans Support Vaccine Mandates And Passports)
Rivera said that after battling cancer he is “careful” to wear a mask.
“I have to be careful, I have to wear these,” the NFL coach shared. “We’ve had a couple situations with players already testing positive for COVID, and that scares the hell out of me, because I interact with these guys.”
“I’m close to these guys, and sometimes I forget to put my mask on for extra insurance,” he added. “I know I’m vaccinated, and I know it’s going to keep me from getting deathly ill, but I can still get it. And who knows? So I have to be careful.”
“There’s enough positive science out there, if they’re going to tell me that over 600,000 people have died and 99.9% are people that were not vaccinated, well, what about the .1%?” Rivera continued. “Well, that .1% are people that had underlying conditions—old age, something else. It’s not young, healthy people. So I don’t know why. And then they talk about all this distrust, well, if half the world wants it and can’t get it, what’s the problem with us? It frustrates me.”
Two of the three vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use (Pfizer and Moderna) have been demonstrated to have more than 90% efficacy against COVID-19, Yale Medicine noted. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been found to have 72% overall efficacy.