Bubba Wallace Hopes To Set Example By Getting COVID-19 Vaccine

Bubba Wallace now is one of millions of Americans that has received a COVID-19 vaccine.

The NASCAR star and roughly 50 of his 23XI Racing team members and their immediate family received their vaccines Tuesday, according to CNN. Novant Health conducted the pop-up clinic at the team’s shop.

Wallace hopes doing this will set an example for others who have yet to be inoculated.

“I am trying to be a leader and get others vaccinated,” Wallace told CNN’s Jade Gordon, via Dianne Gallagher.

Originally, Wallace’s team was set to get the J&J vaccine, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday ordered the immediate stoppage of administering its vaccine after six women developed a rare blood clot disorder within two weeks of getting their respective doses.

Instead, the team received the Pfizer vaccine, Novant Health told CNN.

The change did not bother Wallace, though.

“Seeing that they are taking a pause and doing more research and figuring out what other avenues they need to go down to make this perfect, just gives you reinsurance,” Wallace said, per Gallagher.

Wallace is no stranger to using his platform to help highlight major issues. The 27-year-old, who is the only Black driver at NASCAR’s highest level, has tackled matters like racial injustice and voter rights in the past.

Now, he is adding COVID-19 to the list.

Nearly 121 million Americans have, like Wallace, received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.