Philadelphia 76ers Star Explains His Anti-Vaccination Stance

Matisse Thybulle is trying to explain.

The Philadelphia 76ers will be without their star guard Matisse Thybulle for the upcoming playoff 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.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 11, 2022

Thybulle shared an explanation for his decision not to be vaccinated, stating the way he was raised is 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.

“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: pic.twitter.com/2zwNaLTOcZ

— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) April 11, 2022

“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.”

“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.”

If you’re going to get the first dose, why not just follow through and complete the process.

Half measures don’t work during a pandemic.

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