Aaron Rodgers regrets saying he was ‘immunized’ against COVID

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says in a forthcoming book that he should have approached discussing his COVID-19 immunization status differently.

The New York Jets quarterback was still with the Green Bay Packers in 2021 when he told reporters he had been “immunized” against the virus — and then tested positive for COVID-19 three months later and was sidelined for 10 days.

Rodgers unsuccessfully appealed to the league that his homeopathic treatment regimen should qualify him as vaccinated. The four-time NFL MVP was widely criticized for not being honest about his status.

“If there’s one thing I wish could have turned out differently, it’s that, because that’s the only thing critics can hit me with,” ESPN reported that Rodgers told author Ian O’Connor for the biography ‘Out Of The Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers’, which goes on sale next week.

ESPN said Rodgers says in the book that his main reason for claiming he was “immunized” was the statement that represented “the core of my appeal.”

Rodgers said at the time that he was allergic to an ingredient in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines — polyethylene glycol — and was concerned about possible side effects from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“But if I could do it again, I would have said (forget) the call. I’m just going to tell them I’m allergic to PEG,” Rodgers says in the book. “I’m not getting Johnson & Johnson. I will not get vaccinated.”

The book, based on interviews with 250 people including Rodgers, also delves into other aspects of the quarterback’s life, including his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon after four ruptures during his debut with the Jets last year, his long estrangement from his family , his introduction to ayahuasca use and details of his football career while attending Cal, his first-round draft pick in 2005 and his eighteen seasons with the Packers.