Poison’s Rikki Rockett Contracts COVID-19, Says He’d Be ‘Way Worse’ Without Being Vaccinated

Poison drummer Rikki Rockett has revealed he recently tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated, but said his condition would be ‘way worse’ if he had not been inoculated.

He announced the news in a nearly 19-minute YouTube video, in which he shared the details about how his son first tested positive after they both stayed in a camper on a Friday. Rockett’s son was the first to display symptoms of COVID-19, which was followed by a positive test result. Rockett himself then became symptomatic and received the same result via a rapid test.

“Guess what? I’m vaccinated. I’m fully vaccinated, and I’ve been vaccinated for months. I don’t know if this is the [COVID-19] delta variant, but every physician I’ve spoken to said it has every hallmark of being the delta variant,” said the drummer (transcription via Blabbermouth).

Rockett, understanding that some people may be confused about the intended purpose of the vaccine (which does not guarantee 100 percent immunity from an illness, but instead aims to reduce the severity of its effects as well as likelihood of hospitalization and death) and explained why he is grateful to have already been vaccinated.

“You’re probably thinking to yourself, ‘Vaccinated and you still got COVID. Do you feel like an idiot for getting vaccinated?’ No. The reason I don’t feel that way is because I know that this would be way worse, especially if it was the delta variant,” he said.

Rockett continued, “And I’m pretty sure — pretty, pretty sure — and I’m gonna get a DNA sequence to make sure — but absolutely every doctor that my family and I have come in contact with, and I think we’re counting seven doctors now, have all said, ‘It is the hallmarks… Everything that you describe is the delta variant.’ So I’m quite confident that that’s what it is. And that would completely devastate me if I hadn’t had the vaccine.”

“I am a cancer survivor — almost five years ago, I had cancer, and I’ve been cancer-free since then. I did a little inquiry with the clinic, and they said, ‘No. We’re getting dozens of people a day that are vaccinated that are testing positive with the delta variant,” noted the drummer.

Rockett again reiterated the important role the vaccine played in helping him maintain his health and added, “So, this is the predominant variant right now, and it just sucks, ’cause it’s no fun — trust me — it’s no fun. But it could have been a lot worse. I’m not on a respirator. My doctor told me yesterday. We had a nice call for about 20 minutes. I showed him all my numbers. But he said, ‘I’m pretty convinced you’re out of the woods.’ It’d be very weird for me to just relapse all of a sudden.”

See Rockett’s full video below.

At the end of June, the Associated Press reported that over 99 percent of COVID-related deaths in the United States were among unvaccinated persons. Less than one percent of those deaths were attributed to those who had received a vaccine. Additionally, less than 1,200 of the more than 107,000 COVID-19 related hospitalizations were attributed to vaccinated persons.

Earlier this month, Trivium frontman Matt Heafy confirmed he had contracted COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated and expressed gratitude that the vaccine prevented him from being seriously ill. His father, who is unvaccinated, was said to be 12 weeks into a very terrible recovery with lung/heart/liver issues.”

Poison’s Rikki Rockett Discusses His COVID-19 Diagnosis + Appreciation for Vaccine