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Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich out until 2022 with lung issues from contracting COVID-19

Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich will miss the rest of the year's matches while recovering from long-term effects of contracting COVID-19, the club announced Thursday.

Kimmich, tapped as a future captain for the German national team, said in October he remained unvaccinated because he was concerned about the long-term impact of the vaccine, despite German health officials saying they "do not exist, or are an extreme rarity." It created a very public controversy in the country seeing as Kimmich co-founded the "We Kick Corona" campaign last year to support vaccination campaigns and charity projects.

He has not played since Nov. 6 and will now be out for both club and country until 2022 while dealing with a lung issue.

Kimmich dealing with long-term COVID-19 effects

Kimmich, 26, first entered health and safety protocols in early November as an unvaccinated close contact of a positive case. He then tested positive himself and has been out since a Nov. 6 match.

"I'm happy my self-isolation caused by the coronavirus has ended," Kimmich said in a team release. "I'm doing very well, but I'm not yet able to train fully due to slight infiltrations in my lungs. I'll therefore do some rehabilitative training and can't wait to be fully back in action in January."

He has already missed five matches for Bayern and two for the German national team during FIFA World Cup qualifying. He will miss three more Bayern matches by the end of the year.

Kimmich at center of vaccine controversy

Bayern Munich
Joshua Kimmich will miss at least three more Bayern Munich games while dealing with long-term effects of COVID-19. (Roland Krivec/DeFodi Images via Getty Images) (DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Kimmich is a role model athlete in Germany and has been discussed as a possible future captain for the national team. He made waves in October when he announced it was "very possible" he would eventually get vaccinated, but confirmed he was unvaccinated, per the Associated Press.

Doctors and public health institutions said Kimmich was "caught up in" misinformation and was "badly advised," via the AP. They urged him to use his platform to be a better role model and "clarify that these forms of long-term effects [of vaccines] do not exist," medical expert Alena Buyx said, via the AP.

A German professor of immunology told public broadcaster ARD side-effects from vaccines "always appear directly after the vaccination, within a few weeks," via the BBC. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says serious side effects that cause long-term health problems are "extremely unlikely" for any type of vaccination.

It was his involvement in a public vaccination campaign that drew ire from many. Kimmich set up "We Kick Corona" with Bayern and Germany teammate Leon Goretzka in March 2020. Millions of dollars were raised and donated to charity organizations, some of which made vaccines available, Kimmich said in October.

Athletes experiencing long-lasting impacts of COVID

Some athletes have spoken publicly of the long-lasting impact of contracting COVID-19, from recovering their lung capacity and respiratory levels to struggling to get out of bed.

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, 25, said in October his body didn't recover the same from games following his return from COVID-19. He said one game feels like he's played three.

New York Liberty guard Asia Durr, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft, missed two seasons while dealing with lasting effects as a "COVID long-hauler." Her debilitating symptoms included massive weight loss and “lung pain that was so severe it felt like somebody took a long knife and was just stabbing you in your lungs each second," she told HBO's "Real Sports."

Durr, 24, struggled to pick up a basketball during that time and was only medically cleared to play basketball again last month.