NBA star Andrew Wiggins on getting vaccinated: ‘I guess you don’t own your body’

Golden State Warriors star forward Andrew Wiggins said he is still frustrated about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, saying that he doesn’t own his body anymore, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. 

Speaking to reporters after the Warriors preseason game on Monday, Wiggins said he felt he was forced to get vaccinated since there was a chance he would’ve been barred from participating in home games this season. 

San Francisco’s city government last month issued a new mandate where citizens have to show proof of vaccination to attend large indoor events, prohibiting citizens from showing negative COVID-19 tests. 

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr shared on Sunday that Wiggins was vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, saying that his team is now 100 percent fully vaccinated. 

“I guess to do certain stuff, to work and all that, I guess you don’t own your body,” Wiggins said. “That’s what it comes down to. You want to work in society today, I guess they make the rules of what goes into your body and what you do.” 

Wiggins also shared his experiences with taking medicine, stating an allergic reaction to Tylenol led him to be prescribed an EpiPen and recounting others who have bad reactions and injuries from being vaccinated, according to the Chronicle. 

“I don’t know what it’s going to do to my body. There’s a lot of stuff. I feel like I could go on for days about why I didn’t want to get it. Most importantly, I don’t know what’s going to happen or what it’s going to do to my body in 10, 15 years, 20 years,” Wiggins said. “What it will do to my kids or my future kids. But I guess it’s something I had to get done.”

Wiggins, the first overall selection in the 2014 NBA Draft, made headlines last week along with fellow star players Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, and Jonathan Isaac over their hesitancy on getting vaccinated. 

The NBA recently denied Wiggins’s request to be religiously exempt from getting vaccinated, according to an ESPN report.

The league also unveiled its COVID-19 safety protocol, requiring unvaccinated players to follow strict mandates throughout the upcoming season. 

NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said last week the league will withhold pay for unvaccinated players who miss games this season due to COVID-19.

Ninety-five percent of NBA players are vaccinated against the virus.