CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Another Chicago Cubs star admitted he has not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and does not intend to be.
First, Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo admitted he has not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Now, Jason Heyward said he has not received the COVID-19 vaccine and has no intention of receiving one.
Heyward told reporters on Sunday the emphasis on players' vaccination status is "wasted concern" and that he thinks there should be more concern about the fans filling the ballpark now and sitting shoulder to shoulder.
“There’s concern about players,” Heyward told the the Chicago Tribune's Phil Thompson, “(but) there needs to be more concern about people on the outside, the people in the stands, the 100 percent sitting next to each other that aren’t getting tested the way we are getting tested and say they’re vaccinated or not — if they’re concerned.”
Heyward believes getting vaccinated should be a player's own decision, and shared that he has gotten the flu shot before and was sick for three days. He said he does not want to take that chance with the COVID shot, although if Heyward ends up testing positive for COVID-19, protocols will keep him off the field for much longer than three days.
He also stated that he believes Cubs players are relatively safe, because of how often they get tested.
“They are pointing at the people that get tested at least three times a week, we’re around each other every day, who know whose families are vaccinated and who’s not. We know if we test positive, we don’t show up the next game. Therefore, if we’re present and we’re here, none of us tested positive," Heyward said.
“To me it feels like a lot of wasted concern on a group of a people that is pretty much checked off on almost every single day.”
Javy Baez said to vaccinate or not has been a bone of contention in the clubhouse. Baez said he is vaccinated.
“If you want to call it, we argued about it,” Baez said. “But at the end of the day, we are all men here. We respect each other.”
Major League Baseball is allowing teams that have an 85 percent vaccination rate relax some COVID restrictions, including wearing masks in the dugout;. but even team president Jed Hoyer is not very hopeful that’s going to happen for the Cubs.
“I believe the science was clearly behind [the vaccine], but obviously not everyone agrees with that,” Hoyer said. “If everyone did agree, we’d be well above 85 percent.”
Only eight teams, Chicago Cubs included, have not reached the 85 percent mark.
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