DC professional sports franchises continue to struggle with COVID-19, vaccinations

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - While NFL players will soon be taking shots on the field, it remains to be seen how many will do the same off of it.

"We’ve had a few more guys get theirs. I believe we’re over 50 percent," Washington Football Team Head Coach Ron Rivera said Tuesday, expressing his frustration that his team is among the least vaccinated in the league. "We have a lot of guys that have a lot of questions, unfortunately. They haven’t gotten the answers that they should have by now."

The issue goes beyond the Burgundy and Gold.

The Washington Nationals game was postponed Wednesday after all-star shortstop Trea Turner tested positive for COVID. And up in Baltimore, former Ravens MVP Lamar Jackson also tested positive, in his case, for the second time in the last eight months.

"We always say that sports mirror society. I think we’re seeing that here," ESPN 630 Host Andy Pollin said Wednesday when asked about the outbreaks. "I think the feeling has been in the offseason, ok we’re through this. The stadiums are gonna be full, training camps are gonna be open, you know, it’s gonna be just like it was two years ago. And now as we’re at the doorstep of the season, hold on just a minute, it doesn’t look like that’s gonna be the case."

Fans who talked to Fox 5 were split on whether all athletes should get the shots.

"Being in this kind of field and making this kind of money," Paris Marshall said, "you might want to consider it, you know?"

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"I got the vaccine because I think of my family and other people that I have contact with," Michael Dickerson explained, before adding, "but it’s a personal decision."