Six-time NBA champion, all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. /CFP
Six-time NBA champion, all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, revealed he has received COVID-19 vaccine, reported the Associated Press (AP) on Monday.
"For myself and my family, I am going to take the COVID-19 vaccine. To learn more about the vaccines, go to CDC.gov. Let's do this together," said the 73-year-old in an NBA-sanctioned Public Service Announcement (PSA). Later, a video of Jabbar getting vaccinated was posted on NBA.com.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. made guidance, suggesting that priority of receiving the vaccine should go to health care personnel, those living in long-term care facilities, front-line essential workers, those over the age of 65 and people "with underlying medical conditions" that increase their vulnerability to COVID-19.
Jabbar is 73. 11 years ago, he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Last month, an article on WebMD revealed that Jabbar had prostate cancer and heart bypass surgery. Therefore, he is totally legit to take the vaccine.
Blake Griffin (C) of the Detroit Pistons. /CFP
Jabbar is not the only one contributing his efforts to promoting the use of the vaccine. Cynt Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks and her husband Kenny were the first dosage of the vaccine in Dallas.
"When you look at how COVID-19 has hit the African-American community and communities of color in such a big way, we just said, 'If we can help send a message to build trust and help people stop and do research and get the vaccine,' that would be great," said Marshall to the Dallas Morning News. "That's what we're trying to do. We made a personal decision to do this because we are concerned about how many people are dying from COVID-19, how this is really impacting the African-American community."
Six-time All-Star forward Blake Griffin of the Detroit Pistons also publicly supports the idea of promoting the vaccine. He is also part of a commission in Michigan to stress the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
The NBA Commissioner Adam Silver previously said that teams will not "jump the line" to get vaccinated but the league is again suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the 2020-21 season began in late December 2020, there have already been 14 games postponed.