Thybulle on not getting fully vaccinated: I didnt see any benefits outweighing what I could seek from alternative medicine – NBC Sports

Due to his decision not to get fully vaccinated and Canadas regulations, 76ers wing Matisse Thybulle is ineligible to play in Toronto during Philadelphias first-round playoff series against the Raptors.

Thybulle, via Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia:

Im not fully vaccinated, Thybulle said. This was a decision I made a long time ago. I thought a lot about what Id 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.

I was raised in a holistic household where anti-vax is not a term that was ever used. Its a weird term that has kind of been thrown around to just label people. But we grew up with Chinese medicine and naturopathic doctors. With that upbringing, coming into this situation I felt like I had a solid foundation of medical resources that could serve me beyond what this vaccine could do for me.

As things escalated and as this situation has played out, Ive 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 Im going to be a part of society, in the position Im in, I need to do whats 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 wasnt 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 Im able to sit here today healthy and OK because of it.

One of the things my dad taught me growing up is youre free to do whatever you want as long as youre willing to accept the consequences of it, Thybulle said. Like I said, I considered deeply all the different avenues. And of course Ive accepted that this could hurt money, contracts, reputation. But I felt like this was the right thing that I needed to do for myself.

That was really hard, he said of discussions with teammates. I made this decision a while ago where this situation Im facing right now was not a factor. It wasnt a part of any of the decision-making, because at the time I would be available for my team and not restricted in any way to do my job. Having had the stance Ive had for almost a year now, I just felt like it couldnt be something that I could be forced to do because of rules or regulation changes. It just seemed like the right thing for me to just see it through.

What does he see as the downsides of receiving a second vaccine dose (which would wipe away those repercussions)?

My reasoning for getting it or not getting it wasnt really the downsides, Thybulle said. I just didnt feel like it would benefit me. I didnt see any benefits outweighing what I could seek from alternative medicine.

One big benefit to getting fully vaccinated that alternative medicine doesnt provide: Thybulle could have played Games 3 and 4 (and if necessary, 6) in Toronto.

Vaccinated people are less likely to contract and therefore spread coronavirus. Those reductions in likelihood became less pronounced as the omicron variant became predominant. But they still existed.

Perhaps Thybulle felt the reductions in likelihood werent significant enough to offset his inclination toward alternative medicine. That might be an understandable choice, especially if he held natural immunity from a prior coronavirus case. Theres room to debate where to draw the line on vaccine mandates, especially with coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths relatively low. The players union fought off a vaccine mandate from the NBA under the premise people should have some right to make their own medical decisions.

But Canadas rules exist. Thybulle cant pretend they dont. So fair or not, anticipated or not he and his team are facing a big downside from his decision.

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Thybulle on not getting fully vaccinated: I didnt see any benefits outweighing what I could seek from alternative medicine - NBC Sports