Explained: Why anti-COVID vaccine rhetoric is on rise after American football star’s sudden collapse on field

It has become quite common for conspiracy theorists to cast doubts on any sudden celebrity deaths or accidents. A similar scenario is being played out after American football star Damar Hamlin suddenly collapsed on the field on Monday night (2 January).

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins’ helmet had hit Hamlin in the head and chest area, but the Buffalo Bills safety was able to stand up after the tackle. However, he collapsed soon, as per Vice News.

Informing about the incident, the Bills said in a statement on Twitter that Hamlin “suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition”.

In a health update provided by his doctors on Thursday, the 24-year-old NFL safety is now awake and communicating with his medical team, Reuters reported.

Even though the source of Hamlin’s illness remains unknown, anti-vaxxers have grabbed the opportunity to link his collapse to COVID-19 vaccines.

Why has misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines spread after Damar Hamlin’s collapse? What are experts saying about the anti-vaxxers’ claims? Let’s take a closer look.

COVID misinformation surges

Soon after the football star’s collapse, social media was flooded with anti-vaccine rhetoric.

Charlie Kirk and Rogan O’Handley, who Rolling Stone describes as “far-right conspiracy theorists”, were quick to fan flames of anti-vaccine theories.

“This is a tragic and all too familiar sight right now: Athletes dropping suddenly,” Charlie Kirk, who leads the youth group Turning Point USA, said in a tweet, which has garnered 11.9 million views as of Friday.

This is a tragic and all too familiar sight right now: Athletes dropping suddenly.

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 3, 2023

Claiming he received a text from a “former NFL player” who drew an association between COVID-19 inoculation and sudden heart attacks, O’Handley wrote on Twitter, “So many current & former players are scared of what this vax is doing to their friends & they’re not allowed to discuss it publicly… This is horrible”.

His tweet has 2.4 million views as of Friday.

Today I received this message from a former NFL player

So many current & former players are scared of what this vax is doing to their friends & they’re not allowed to discuss it publicly

I promised him I would be his voice

But my God what is happening to us

This is horrible pic.twitter.com/wdACjugxwz

— Rogan O’Handley (@DC_Draino) January 4, 2023

“Everybody knows what happened to Damar Hamlin because it’s happened to too many athletes around the world since COVID vaccination was required in sports,” former Newsmax correspondent Emerald Robinson tweeted.

Promoting anti-vaccination sentiments, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on Twitter: “Before the covid vaccines we didn’t see athletes dropping dead on the playing field like we do now… Time to investigate the covid vaccines.”

The verified Twitter handle of the documentary Died Suddenly, which was released in November last year, also commented on Hamlin’s collapse, claiming such incidents involving athletes were rare before 2021.

“This is becoming an undeniable (and an extremely concerning) pattern,” the film’s account said, adding a series of syringe emojis.

BREAKING:

Bills safety Damar Hamlin was taken off of the field in an ambulance after collapsing mid game.

Prior to 2021, Athletes collapsing on the field was NOT a normal event.

This is becoming an undeniable (and an extremely concerning) pattern