For nine MLB teams, the league is either already allowing relaxed health and safety protocols, or it will within two weeks, because of their COVID-19 vaccination status. The Cubs are not one of those teams.
Teams with 85 percent of Tier 1 individuals fully vaccinated can loosen certain health and safety protocols for the whole tier, which includes players, coaches and essential on-field personnel.
“We were close to 80 (percent) last time I checked,” Cubs manager David Ross said Friday.
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He checked during the Cubs’ last homestand, when he said more players received vaccines. But Ross added that he didn’t know if those individuals were getting their first or second doses.
“I don't know if we'll get there,” Ross said of the 85-percent threshold.
MLB and the players association announced Friday that over 81 percent of Tier 1 individuals league-wide were at least partially vaccinated.
The Cubs have been offering vaccines to players during homestands. And while the club has put an emphasis on providing information about the vaccine to players and staff members, it has also publicly stressed that taking the vaccine is a personal choice.
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“Let’s be honest, the goal should be 100 percent, so that’s what we’re shooting for,” Ross said earlier this month. “Each person has their own views and things, but we’re just continuing to try to educate and encourage them as much as we can to get vaccinated.”
Two Cubs coaches have tested positive for COVID-19 this season, but both were at least partially vaccinated at the time.
First base coach Craig Driver had received one of two doses when he tested positive. Bullpen coach Chris Young had received both doses, but individuals are only considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their final shot. The Cubs suspect Young contracted COVID-19 before he reached that mark.