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Red Sox star Xander Bogaerts is now vaccinated, can travel to Toronto for games
Bogaerts will not have to face travel COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Canada on unvaccinated players, who cannot travel to Toronto for games.
After going through last year’s COVID protocols as an unvaccinated player, Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts apparently decided a change was needed.
The longtime Boston infielder told reporters Tuesday morning he is now vaccinated amid questions about whether his status would jeopardize road trips to Canada to play the Toronto Blue Jays.
As of now, Canada is not allowing unvaccinated travelers to enter the country except under special circumstances, which seemingly does not include athletes traveling for sporting events. Additionally, unvaccinated players who miss games in Toronto will be placed on the league’s restricted list and will not be paid or accrue service time.
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That put Boston, a team that didn’t reach MLB’s 85 percent vaccination threshold last season and also suffered major COVID outbreaks, in the spotlight. The Blue Jays and Red Sox, after all, compete in the same division and will play 19 times in 2022. 10 of those games will be north of the border.
Bogaerts had to go into quarantine in the middle of a game last season after testing positive for COVID-19 as an unvaccinated player. Chris Sale acknowledged he wasn’t vaccinated. Christian Arroyo and Josh Taylor were placed on the COVID-19 list after being identified as close contacts, which indicates they too were unvaccinated.
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First-base coach Tom Goodwin also notably had to miss playoff games in 2021 because of his refusal to vaccinate. (He has since been vaccinated and now works with the Braves.)
Though the exact number of unvaccinated Red Sox players is unknown at this time, Bogaerts no longer being among them is a clear boost for the Sox when they journey to Toronto for the first time at the end of April. It will be interesting to see if other unvaccinated Sox players follow suit.
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