MRC’s Maxson Pushes Bogus Claims Of Mass COVID Vaccine Deaths In Athletes

We’ve written before about the WorldNetDaily-ization of the Media Research Center, and mysterious sports blogger Jay Maxson embodies the current version of that with his (or her) anti-vaccine activism. But an April 21 post by Maxson — also published at MRCTV — is so completely based in a discredited falsehood that it really should have appeared at WND. Maxson began:

The risk of death from COVID among young adult athletes is so rare that it is considered inconsequential. On the other hand, the number of young adult athletes suffering and dying from COVID vaccinations and booster shots is mounting.

Nearly 800 young adult athletes suffered adverse effects from COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots, the Good Sciencing team of investigators, news editors and journalists discovered. Between March 2021 and March 2022, athletes suffered 890 cardiac arrests and other serious issues among athletes, while 579 died following COVID-19 shots. Some 769 athletes collapsed during competition. 

The scientific investigators stated: “It is definitely not normal for so many mainly young athletes to suffer from cardiac arrests or to die while playing their sport, but this year it is happening. Many of these heart issues and deaths come shortly after they got a COVID vaccine. While it is possible this can happen to people who did not get a COVID vaccine, the sheer numbers clearly point to the only obvious cause.” 

One America Network found that the average age of the ailing and dying athletes was just 23. Dr. Joseph Mercola also said the unprecedented surge in cardiac arrest and other heart issues among elite athletes coincides with COVID-19 jabs.  

The idea that hundreds of athletes are dropping dead because of COVID vaccines has been discredited some time ago. That said, Maxson’s sources don’t inspire confidence either. Good Sciencing is an anonymously run website (remember that the MRC purports to hate anonymous sources) and OAN is not known for accurate and unbiased reporting about, well, anything. 

Note that Maxson doesn’t even link to the OAN website for this story; the OAN link goes to an article at something called Oval Media, which is apparently based in Germany, and an article written by notorious anti-vaxxer quack Dr. Joseph Mercola. The other two links go to articles at Children’s Health Defense, run by another notorious anti-vaxxer, Robert Kennedy Jr.

Maxson then wrote: “Earlier this month, 15 vaccinated tennis players dropped out of the Miami Open due to adverse vaccination reactions. Among them were Jannik Sinner (appearing in above photo), ranked 12th in the world, and Paula Badosa.” In fact, neither Sinner, Badosa nor any of the others who withdrew from the Miami Open cited the vaccine as a reason: “Official tournament records cite injuries and illnesses, which are backed up by multiple news reports and social media accounts from the players themselves.”

Maxson then cited examples of actual athletes who claimed to have had adverse reactions to the vaccine, which is the one section of the post that has some basis in reality; for instance, “Kyle Warner, a 29-year-old professional mountain biker, received his second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 shot last June and suffered a reaction so severe that he spent months in bed.” But according to PolitiFact, Warner’s doctor did confirm that he suffered myocarditis after receiving a vaccine but that “a follow up cardiac MRI and stress test were normal.” 

Maxson concluded:

Despite evidence contrary to the left-wing narrative, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control, are discounting the seriousness of these problems. 

If you had not heard this news, it’s not surprising. Big Tech and the media are suppressing it.  

Or perhaps it’s not actually true and most sentient people don’t immerse themselves in the discredited conspiracy-theory websites that Maxson is apparently marinated in.