With the Yankees dealing with another COVID-19 outbreak across town, the Mets are still short of the 85 percent vaccination threshold, and manager Luis Rojas said the team isn't focused on that at this point in the season.
"Right now, we're not at the 85," Rojas told Carton and Roberts on Friday. "Whether some of those talks develop for the players that haven't done it, that hasn't really been my focus since those talks started. Right now we're really focused on getting ready to play."
The Yankees lost six players to the COVID-19 IL this week, including All-Star Aaron Judge, and of the six, not all have been vaccinated. Several have been, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and the team continue to urge everyone to get vaccinated, which they believe is a major reason why so few members that have tested positive experience symptoms. On the Mets side, getting vaccinated isn't an issue that Rojas is going to push onto his players, although reaching the 85 percent mark would result in relaxed protocols for the team in terms of travel and social distancing.
"I think we've been really good with the protocols and we follow everything that MLB has issued out, but right now we're just not pushing, which is one of the things you can't do to the players," Rojas said. "The players that choose or have chosen not to do it, it's because they want to learn more, they want to see more and they want to give it more time."
Rojas is fully vaccinated and encourages his team to do the same, but will not be forceful about the decision. Half the teams across Major League Baseball reached the 85 percent threshold by late May, and while some of those teams, like the Yankees, have still run into issues, the vast majority of vaccinated players have not shown symptoms in breakthrough cases. But the Mets will continue to push forward with their season with baseball in mind, not pressing the matter of reaching that threshold.
"I did it myself. I think my message personally was that it's better if you do it, but it's a personal choice," Rojas said. "We haven't put much into it since, I don't know. It was a hot topic. We've been really focused on winning games."
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