"I was raised in a holistic household, where anti-vax is not like a term that was ever used" - Philadelphia 76ers star gives a lengthy explanation for his anti-vaccination stance
The Philadelphia 76ers will be taking on the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Eastern Conference first-round of the playoffs. With both teams finishing the regular season in 4th and 5th positions respectively, they will be going up against themselves (as the NBA playoff format dictates) for a chance to advance to the semifinals. The Philadelphia 76ers will be without their guard Matisse Thybulle for the games to be held in Toronto.
Note for Philadelphia (4) vs. Toronto (5) series: 76ers All-Defensive wing Matisse Thybulle is currently ineligible for games in Toronto due to Canada's vaccine mandate.
Due to the 25-year old's refusal to get fully vaccinated, he is ineligible to feature in accordance with the vaccination mandate in Canada. He will most likely miss Game 3, 4 and possibly Game 6, if the series extends. The Disruptor, as he is fondly known, made 50 starts for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2021-22 NBA season and featured in 66 games as he grew into becoming an integral part of the team.
Thybulle shared a lengthy explanation for his decision not to be vaccinated, stating his upbringing was his key reason for not walking that path. He also reacted to being labeled as "anti-vax" due to his anti-vaccination stance.
"I was raised in a holistic household, where anti-vax is not like a term that was ever used, it's a weird term that has been kind of thrown around to just label people." Thybulle wrote.
Philadelphia 76ers guard Matisse Thybulle gives a lengthy explanation for not being fully vaccinated
The Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard Matisse Thybulle is not fully vaccinated and will not be eligible to feature in the first-round of the NBA Eastern Conference series against the Toronto Raptors. The youngster has stated that he was not fully vaccinated and it was a decision he made a while back with the intention of keeping it private.
“I’m not fully vaccinated,” Thybulle said. “This was a decision I made a long time ago. I thought a lot about what I’d say here. Essentially, I made this choice and I thought I could keep it to myself, I could keep it private, but people are always going to wonder why."
Thybulle's opening answer tonight on why he is not fully vaccinated stems from his upbringing.
"I was raised in a holistic household, where anti-vax is not like a term that was ever used, it's a weird term that has been kind of thrown around to just label people."
Full quote: https://t.co/2zwNaLTOcZ
He wrote that his decision to take the first dose of vaccination was born out of the humanely duty of doing "what’s right for the greater good." So aid the society in curbing out the pandemic that is Covid-19, he intended to take the vaccine with the reasoning that he would neither be able to contract the virus nor transmit it (as was advertised).
“As things escalated and as this situation has played out, I’ve obviously had to reconsider and look at it differently. To that point, it got to the point last year during the playoffs where I did actually consider getting vaccinated and went through with getting the first shot, the first dose."
"At that point, I was under the impression that getting vaccinated meant that I could not get the disease and transmit it to other people. And I felt like if I’m going to be a part of society, in the position I’m in, I need to do what’s right for the greater good."
"That argument of the greater good held a lot of weight for me. As things progressed, as this virus has changed many different ways, it just showed through the science that that wasn’t the case anymore — that even while being vaccinated, you could still spread the disease."
But with the new revelation that the virus was still being transmittable despite being vaccinated, the Philadelphia 76ers guard had to renege on his choice to be vaccinated as he realized that being vaccinated does not "protect other people."
“So for me and my reasoning, it felt like getting vaccinated was not something that I needed to do to protect other people. … With that being considered and the holistic background of my upbringing — and just the way I view medicine in general."
"It felt like I was secure in treating myself … not treating myself, but going to the doctors that I have to treat COVID if I did get it. And in the case that I did, I was able to go about it in my holistic way, and I’m able to sit here today healthy and OK because of it.”