Raptors One Second Dose Away from Fully Vaccinated

Toronto Raptors expect to be fully vaccinated before the start of the 2021-22 NBA season

Aaron Rose | Sep 27, 2021

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors are just one dose away from being 100% fully vaccinated.

If everything goes according to play, the team will reach 100% before the start of the season, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said at Raptors media day Monday. The team is one second dose away from being fully vaccinated, Webster said.

The NBA is battling a bit of an anti-vaccine problem these days, as reported by Rolling Stone. Some players, including Kyrie Irving, Jonathan Isaac, and Andrew Wiggins have been reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. While the Raptors have had one straggler, that unnamed person is on his way to getting vaccinated.

As for unvaccinated players coming to Toronto, Webster said the team has received an exemption from the federal government to permit unvaccinated individuals to enter the country. Those players will have to remain in a "modified quarantine," Webster said. They will be required to remain in the hotel unless traveling to the arena or practice facility and endure daily COVID-19 testing and mask-wearing.

"We feel comfortable obviously in public health," Webster said.

Fred VanVleet said he's hopeful vaccine discussions can be put in the past because it's such a "divisive topic" right now.

"Whoever is unvaccinated, it’s their own personal journey and they have to deal with whatever comes their way," he said.

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