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The Coronavirus disease is one of the deadliest pandemics that has affected the global populace, with recorded cases of up to 620,000,000, and over 6,500,000 deaths, reported by the World Health Organisation, WHO. The virus, which initially had no vaccine, crippled the world’s economy, and every sector including sports, which caused a global lockdown, and massive loss of profit. After the recent breakthrough in the vaccination for the virus, many have been spread around the world, though not everyone has accessed it, even some players on the NY Mets team of the MLB. Let us know ‘Which NY Mets Are Unvaccinated?’.
Although there is confirmation of some NY Mets not being vaccinated, there is no official or confirmed list of these unvaccinated players, and neither is there a certain number of unvaccinated players in the Mets.
The New York City Regulation
As of the last season of Major League Baseball, all unvaccinated players in the MLB were not allowed to participate in the league because of a city vaccination mandate.
A New York City regulation, adopted on the 27th of December, 2021, required every person involved in public-interaction businesses to undergo 2 sets of COVID-19 vaccinations, and show proof they have taken them before they can be allowed to resume their various jobs, and businesses. This regulation also applied to both Yankees, and Mets, the two New York-based teams, as all unvaccinated players in both teams would not be allowed to play home games until they get vaccinated.
The MLB also set an 85% vaccination threshold for participation in the league as of last season, with the Mets among the six teams, out of 30 that had not reached that target. Much effort was put into the issue of vaccinations to allow teams to reduce the protocols enacted because of the pandemic.
Reasons Why NY Mets are Unvaccinated?
According to reports, there were no disclosed reasons why some of the Mets had not been vaccinated according to the New York Regulation other than reluctance from the players. Even the MLB refused to give out a certain number of vaccinated employees of its league, stating only that 88% of Tier 1 employees were vaccinated and ready for the new season. There
Regulation Lifted
Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, on the 24th of March lifted the regulation that stated that all unvaccinated professional athletes would not be eligible to play ahead of the 2022 season. He stated that the decision was taken to help boost the economy of the city, as the ban limited some business activities from thriving to their full potential. This meant that all the players of the NY Mets (including the Yankees), both vaccinated and unvaccinated were eligible to play the home games of the baseball team, two weeks before the season’s opener on April 7.
The MLB and MLB Players Association agreed on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that all unvaccinated players would be placed on a restricted list, without payments, pending when they receive COVID-19 vaccines.
What this means for the NY Mets?
Regardless of the lifting of the New York City Regulation, members of the Major League Baseball, in New York especially, that are yet to be vaccinated against the coronavirus will be barred from playing games against the Toronto Blue Jays this season because of the border restrictions set by the Canadian government to prevent a further breakout of the virus, and control its spread in the country.
The border restrictions would stop players that haven’t gone through the vaccination process from crossing the border. Although unvaccinated visitors and athletes were allowed into the country last year, the permit ended at the start of 2022.
This means some players of the Mets will have to sit out of important games against the Toronto Blue Jays pending the period of their being on the restriction list. The Coronavirus vaccination has been received with open arms in some of the other American sports leagues like the NBA, NHL, NFL, and WNBA, with the NHL, and NBA having teams in Canada.
Conclusion
Some of these Mets players would not only lose game time, or cause their team to suffer losses in some games due to lack of a complete team, but they would also not get paid for not being vaccinated, a rule triggered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement made by the MLB and the MLBPA, for being in the restricted list, and for as long as they remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus. All these things are aimed at not repeating the negligence of the world before the spread of the disease in 2020, so strict measures are being put in place and dedicated adherence is required of everyone, especially as the US-Canada border is one of the largest and busiest borders.
