Offspring drummer Pete Parada says he's out of the band after refusing to get vaccinated
Offspring drummer Pete Parada shared on social media that because he won't get the COVID-19 vaccine, he is no longer part of the band.
The 48-year-old said he was revealing what happened "so that anyone else experiencing the agony and isolation of getting left behind right now — knows they're not entirely alone." According to Parada, he caught COVID-19 last year, and "it was mild for me, so I am confident I'd be able to handle it again, but I'm not so confident I'd survive another post-vaccination round of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which dates back to my childhood and has evolved to be progressively worse over my lifetime."
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Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare autoimmune disorder that can cause muscle weakness and paralyses; the Food and Drug Administration says out of 13 million people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, there were 100 reports of patients later coming down with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, with most having a full recovery.
The Offspring formed in Orange County, California, in 1984, and Parada joined in 2007. The band — whose lead singer, Dexter Holland, received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Southern California — will perform to a sold-out crowd Sunday at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium, with all attendees required to prove they are fully vaccinated. A spokesperson for the Offspring did not return the Los Angeles Times' request for comment.
