Canada announces January 15 deadline for unvaccinated athletes

The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) reported on Friday that Canada will be changing their guidelines for unvaccinated pro athletes just after the calendar turns to 2022 and it will impact teams playing the Toronto Blue Jays at home and, potentially, teams facing the Tampa Bay Rays if they play half of their home games in Montreal.

Canadian minister of public safety Marco Mendicino made the announcement on Friday. Currently, athletes entering Canada can receive an exemption on Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement for entry with a “national interest exemption.” However, that exemption will be changed on January 15, 2022.

For unvaccinated MLB players, this could present a problem for when their team goes to Canada to face the Toronto Blue Jays and, possibly, the Tampa Bay Rays.

For teams in the American League and a few National League teams, they could run into issues when entering Canada to face the Toronto Blue Jays if they have any players or personnel who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

In addition to the other 14 American League teams that will all travel to Toronto at least one time in 2021, the other teams scheduled to visit Toronto are the Cincinnati Reds (May 20-22), Philadelphia Phillies (July 12-13), St. Louis Cardinals (July 26-27), and Chicago Cubs (August 29-31).

Additionally, if the Tampa Bay Rays get their proposal to play half of their games in Montreal and it happens for 2022, the rest of the AL could be going to Canada more times and some other NL teams may as well.

MLB required all teams in the 2021 postseason to have all players, coaches, trainers, and other non-playing personnel to be vaccinated to gain access to the field and other restricted areas.

The Boston Red Sox were one team that had to replace a coach in the postseason as they had to replace first base coach Tom Goodwin during the postseason. He was replaced by Boston’s quality control coach Ramón Vázquez during the postseason. After the postseason, Boston fired Goodwin but claimed his firing was not due to his vaccination status.

Overall, MLB’s vaccination rate was roughly 85 percent this past June, and two-thirds of the 30 MLB teams were at least 85 percent vaccinated. For MLB, once a team hit an 85 percent vaccination rate, the restrictions on distancing and mask-wearing were relaxed in the clubhouses and dugouts. By the middle of the season, MLB dropped this policy altogether, despite some teams not reaching the previous vaccination threshold.

By the end of the season, there were still a handful of teams that did not meet the 85 percent threshold. Other teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, and Houston Astros required all full-time club employees to be vaccinated during the season or by the end of October.