Barkley on why Alabama should get vaccinated, people in sports should promote it

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Coronavirus

Charles Barkley on why Alabama should get vaccinated, people in sports should promote it

Published: 7:00 a.m.

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By Ben Flanagan | bflanagan@al.com

Outbreak Alabama: Stories from a Pandemic

Charles Barkley Wants You Vaccinated

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Charles Barkley will headline a COVID vaccine rally at Legion Field in Birmingham on Saturday. He will be the featured speaker at the rally, hosted by the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center, which will take place from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. The event will feature drive-thru and walk-up vaccinations at no cost, as well as free t-shirts to the first 300 people vaccinated and food trucks.

Below, Barkley about why publicly encouraging vaccination is so important to him, why he thinks Alabama has been so stubborn about getting the shot and why sports figures like him can and should make a difference in the fight against COVID.

You will appear at a COVID vaccine rally at Legion Field in Birmingham on Saturday. Why is this so important to you?

Listen, man. This COVID thing is a real thing. Obviously you’ve got a ton of people dying. You’ve got a ton of people who have lost their livelihoods -- their houses, their businesses. The only way we’re going to get this thing under control is to get the vaccine.

You know very well that Alabamians do not being told what to do. That’s been true about COVID and encouraging people to get the shot. What is your message to the Alabamian who doesn’t like being told what to do as it relates to the vaccine?

You know that’s really kind of a stupid reasoning. We’re asking them protect themselves and their fellow human beings. Listen, nobody likes being told what to do, but this is a little bit different. We’re trying to get them to take care of themselves, first and foremost, but also protect the other people around you. Nobody likes to be told what to do. But we’re asking you to take care of yourself, your fellow man, your fellow women -- and more importantly -- kids. I don’t think that’s a lot to ask for.

As somebody who has been watching your home state and has felt compelled to get involved to encourage people to get vaccinated, why do you think Alabama has been so slow to get vaccinated?

That’s a great question. Just my personal opinion, I think these politicians have just done such an awful job of telling us what to do. I actually saw when President Trump was there this weekend -- and Alabama’s a Trump stronghold -- and they booed him for telling people to take the vaccine. I mean, if that’s not the ultimate hypocrisy and stupidity, I just don’t know what is.

You filmed a PSA to encourage people to get vaccinated. Nick Saban is obviously a face of the state and someone who is very influential. He also recorded a PSA. People have been critical of Auburn coach Bryan Harsin’s comments as it relates to it being a personal decision and now the situation that Auburn finds itself in. Why is it important for leaders in the state, especially in the sports arena who have so much influence, for y’all to get out front and deliver this message to people?

You know, sports...none of our guys have missed a check. Think about that. A lot of people have lost jobs, money and businesses, but there’s not a single jock who hasn’t gotten a paycheck in the last two years. Think about that. All these businesses are ruined. People are losing their houses. They’re losing their livelihoods. So I think it should be mandatory if you play pro sports because we have been pretty much unaffected financially. Now to answer the college part. These people are kids. Every parent should be able to tell their kids something. You asked me coach Harsin. Yeah, everybody has the right -- it’s their own personal choice. But as we speak, coach Harsin has the virus. This thing ain’t just about you as an individual. People come up to me all the time, want to get an autograph and take a picture. I don’t know if I would ever forgive myself if I got somebody’s kid sick or some adult sick. That’s why I think you should take the vaccination.

If you could put yourself back when you were an athlete...Pro athletes have been so public in this conversation whether they are promoting or encouraging people to take the vaccine, or they are saying it’s a personal decision or haven’t taken it. If COVID was happening when you were an athlete, pro or in college, have you always felt this way about your health and body? How do you think you would have handled it back then?

Well let me just say this. I just wanted to play. Anything that I can take, and to be honest with you, probably to a fault -- there’s times I have taken injections I knew I shouldn’t have been playing. There’s no doubt in my mind probably 30-40 times I’ve taken injections that I knew I shouldn’t have been playing. But I wanted to play. If this vaccine’s going keep me the ability to play my sport, I want to do it. So to answer your question, anything that would help me have the ability to play basketball. I’ve taken shots for worse things where I shouldn’t have taken them. There’s times when I had one leg, and said what you gotta do to get me ready to play? I’ve taken many injections. Cortisones, DMSO, every type of muscle relaxer, anything. I’ve done that because I wanted to play and help my team. So to get back again to your original question, anything that would have made it possible for me to play basketball, I would want to do it.

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