Source: Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty
Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns knows firsthand just how devasting COVID-19 can be on families. So we are sure after receiving his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, he was hit with a wave of emotions.
Towns shared on his Instagram page a photo of himself getting the first dose of the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine with the simple caption “First shot” accompanied with a check emoji. The moment comes almost a year following his mother Jacqueline’s tragic passing, who lost her battle with the virus on April 13 during the onset of the global pandemic that is still going on worldwide.
He also has lost six other family members to COVID-19. Speaking with CNN, he said, “I’ve seen a lot of coffins in the last seven months, eight months,” Towns revealed. “But I have a lot of people who have — in my family and my mom’s family — who have gotten Covid. I’m the one looking for answers still, trying to find how to keep them healthy. It’s just a lot of responsibility on me to keep my family well informed and to make all the moves necessary to keep them alive.”
Despite trying to keep himself and his family safe, Towns also caught COVID-19 like his parents, and like his father, Karl-Anthony Towns Sr., he recovered from it, but it did keep him sidelined for a few weeks. Towns is one of the many NBA players who have received the COVID-19 vaccine. It is not a requirement to play during the season, according to commissioner Adam Silver.
KAT is well aware that stopping the spread of COVID-19 will require all of us. “We cannot stop the spread of this virus alone, it must be a group effort by all of us.”
Salute to Karl-Anthony Towns for rolling up his sleeve. For more information on the COVID-19 vaccines and how they work, you can head here.
Photo: Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty
