Andy Reid: Chiefs among few NFL teams with 90% of players vaccinated

The Kansas City Chiefs are among the top teams in the league when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations according to head coach Andy Reid.

Speaking with the press on Friday when rookies, quarterbacks and injured players arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri for training camp, Reid updated reporters on the team’s vaccination rates heading into the season.

“Just touching a little bit on the COVID situation, we’ve got about 90% of our players (who) have taken the shot,” Reid said. “100% of the staff, they’ve all been vaccinated, so that’s a positive.”

If 90% of the Chiefs’ players are vaccinated against COVID-19 as Reid suggests, it would put the team above the league’s threshold for reduced COVID-19 protocols for the team. Dr. Allen Sills reported in a briefing with NFL media members on Friday that 80 percent of all NFL players have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Reid reiterated that statistic during his press conference.

According to Sills, there are only five teams in the league with fewer than a 70% vaccination rate among their players. That’s not something that Reid and the Chiefs will have to worry about with 90% of the players on their 90-man offseason roster vaccinated.

“There are six teams that are 90% or over, so we’re glad to be in that there,” Reid said. “We’re one of the teams where players really have challenged themselves to get things done and take care of business. There are different protocols that take place for vaccinated players and unvaccinated players, but again, that’s all for safety purposes, which is an important part of it as you go forward. . .”

While Reid credits the players for getting vaccinated and taking care of business, the team has also provided good resources and educational tools to the players. The job that they’ve done to keep players informed about vaccination throughout the 2021 NFL offseason has certainly played a part in the team’s high vaccination rates as they enter a crucial part of the offseason.

“We’ve kept the guys as educated as we can with the different protocols,” Reid said back in June. “Also gave them the opportunity to look into whether they wanted to be vaccinated or not, the pluses there, what the doctors are saying, what the latest science is saying. So, if they had questions, all I asked was that they get them answered. With that, we’ve had a number of guys sign up. We’re heading in the right direction there.”

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