In the days before his death, baseball legend Hank Aaron tried to set an example for the black community by receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. He urged others to do the same, knowing that black Americans are less likely to be vaccinated.
Now, in the days after his death, Aaron’s endorsement of vaccination is being used by conspiracy theorists and antivaxxers to undermine his work.
They are claiming – without basis – that Aaron died from the vaccine. In fact, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office said on Monday that Aaron died of natural causes. The Braves announced that Aaron, 86, died in his sleep.
But it is a sign of the times that people, especially on social media, will draw their own conclusions. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an antivaxxer and lawyer, led the spread of misinformation here – calling Aaron’s death “suspect”, although there is no proof of that.
This appeared to be a predictable outcome, based on how the world worked in 2021. Dr. Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of the School of Medicine at Emory University, spoke with NBC News and said that Aaron choosing to be vaccinated publicly proved to be a “double-edged sword.”
“We have made your vaccination public so that it can be used to increase vaccination,” said del Rio on Monday. “Unfortunately, as his vaccination was made public and he later died, we now have a small boomerang effect that comes to haunt us because he died.”
But in reality, del Rio said he “has absolute confidence that his death has nothing to do with the vaccine, but that he is old and fragile”.
Aaron proved to be a hero in his life – the guy who hit a record number of home runs and the guy who helped promote black Americans during the fight for civil rights. In his last days, he still tried to do what he thought was right.
Don’t let a conspiracy theory lead you to believe otherwise.
More from Yahoo Sports: