Sunday December 12th 2021
“Bad conscience is there”
Kimmich speaks moved about “difficult times”
National player Joshua Kimmich is in a storm of indignation due to his reluctance to vaccinate. Now the FC Bayern professional speaks for the first time in detail about a difficult time that led to an important decision. Kimmich is critical and self-critical.
Joshua Kimmich put his folded hands in his lap as he sadly explained his misunderstanding of the emotional vaccination question. “It was just difficult for me to deal with my fears and concerns. That’s why I was undecided for so long,” said the national soccer player, who has now decided in favor of the spades against Corona. “That’s why I couldn’t make this decision at the time and maybe had to go through what I’ve been through now,” said the star of FC Bayern Munich in the ZDF “sports report”. “In retrospect,” he would have liked to have made the decision to vaccinate earlier.
Moving weeks lie behind the family man, who had to be quarantined twice as a contact person and once after his own infection. In addition, after his publicly justified hesitation in vaccinating, there was a lot of criticism in response to a “Bild” report. Kimmich was at the center of heated debates, was a topic at talk shows, and became the most discussed athlete in Germany right up to the federal government. “In general, of course, it was a very, very difficult time for me,” said Kimmich, who had not been able to play for over a month. “The guilty conscience is definitely there. First and foremost, of course, to my family, who had to listen to a lot, but of course also to my team-mates.”
“Doesn’t pass anyone without a trace”
Kimmich, who founded the “We Kick Corona” aid initiative together with Leon Goretzka, declared his vaccination fence seven weeks ago with “a few concerns, especially about the lack of long-term studies”. According to many experts, such long-term after-effects are excluded from vaccinations against Covid-19. At that time, after the game, in a thick winter jacket, he stood on the lawn for the Sky interview right after the game. On ZDF, the 26-year-old dressed in black on a dining room chair in a living room gave insights into his diverse thoughts. Kimmich’s eyes were reddened, he looked worn out – which, according to the latest statements from coach Julian Nagelsmann, was not surprising. “It doesn’t leave anyone behind without a trace,” said the coach, who celebrated his 100th Bundesliga victory in the 2-1 win against FSV Mainz 05. Kimmich will “come back strong,” assured Nagelsmann.
But that will take a few more weeks because Kimmich still has lung problems despite the mild course. If he trains intensively too early, there is a risk “that it will get on your heart and that you will suffer longer consequences,” said Kimmich. In the second half of the season, which begins for Bayern on January 7th against Mönchengladbach, he wants and can attack again according to doctors. When he will be vaccinated is still open. Kimmich revealed that he had already had a vaccination appointment. “Unfortunately, the illness came before me.” Now the midfield boss will soon have recovered status. “This status then lasts for a certain time and when it is recommended and the time is right, I will get vaccinated,” said the 26-year-old.
“I am a person with fears and concerns”
Kimmich’s “yes” and his vaccination turnaround could also have a public signal effect on the vaccination issue. Around 70 percent of the population in Germany are fully vaccinated. “As a professional soccer player and national player, he is a role model for many people. More vaccinations are the way out of the pandemic,” said the new Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger. Kimmich himself stated that he was aware of the “role model function”. “I’m a national player, I’m a Bayern Munich player – and yet I’m somehow just a person who also has fears and concerns,” the key player appealed to the club and the national team for understanding. Everyone has to decide for themselves. “There are many good reasons to get vaccinated,” said Kimmich.
In the course of his statements about the vaccination hesitation, there was talk of a total of five Munich professionals. At the weekend, Nagelsmann revealed to national player and Mainz match winner Jamal Musiala that he was now vaccinated. And Serge Gnabry has already mentioned this – but this has not yet been confirmed. Like Kimmich, Gnabry also has a corona infection behind him. The Standing Vaccination Commission recommends that people with healthy immunity who have been infected be given a dose of vaccine first. As a rule, the vaccination should be given six months after the illness, but no earlier than four weeks after the symptoms have subsided. A booster vaccination should then take place later. Gnabry’s infection was more than six months ago.
“There are no two opinions”
National coach Hansi Flick will be happy about the vaccination news from this DFB trio a few weeks before the start of the World Cup year. The national coach had already indicated that Kimmich’s “tendency” was for a vaccination against the coronavirus. The people of Munich welcome the steps towards vaccination. “I hope that we will hopefully not have any problems in the second half of the season,” said Nagelsmann. Bayern, who are practically the autumn champions and clearly lead the table ahead of Dortmund, have been repeatedly hit by failures of unvaccinated professionals in the past few weeks. The club cut the salaries of the unvaccinated quarantined players, which Kimmich understands: “I guess there are no two opinions on the subject, that was the right of the club.”
Kimmich also understood criticism, at least the factual one. In some cases, however, “some limits have been exceeded”. He reported, for example, that representatives of the press had even come to “my grandfather’s funeral”. “We always talk about respect, tolerance, openness and these are precisely the values that I have missed extremely in my discussion,” he said. Many people would make mistakes in difficult pandemic times, including in politics. “That’s why I don’t quite understand why a person like me is not allowed to make this mistake and then you really point your finger from almost all directions and judge,” said Kimmich.
Source: ntv.de, Christian Kunz, Christian Hollmann, Robert Semmler and Michael Rossmann, dpa