NFL players had until Monday to become fully vaccinated. Doing so will allow them to avoid training camp, preseason, and in-season restrictions in 2021. That means getting their second shot of Pfizer, Moderna, or a single shot of Johnson & Johnson. The league continues to encourage players, staff, and fans to protect themselves and those around them by getting the vaccine but isn't making it a requirement for the upcoming season.
On Tuesday, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that eight teams are above the 85 percent threshold for player vaccinations necessary to avoid league-mandated limitations. Seventy-one percent of players across the league have received at least one shot.
It is unknown if the San Francisco 49ers are among those eight teams. Although, they were close a month ago. At the time, head coach Kyle Shanahan believed that about 52 of his players were vaccinated. He was optimistic that the Niners would reach 85 percent by the deadline.
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"I think we got 52 guys who have our vaccines done," Shanahan said. "Our goal, I think, is to get -- we need 85-percent, which I don't have a calculator on me, but I think it's 77 or something of the 90 that we have. So I'm hopeful we'll get there. I think we will."
NFL and team staffs continue to work with holdouts to answer any questions they might have about the vaccine and squash any misconceptions about it. For players, being vaccinated means a return to normalcy inside team buildings.
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Unvaccinated players will have to undergo daily COVID testing, continue wearing masks at facilities and during travel, continue observing social distancing, face potential quarantines due to high-risk exposure, won't be allowed to eat with teammates, and will not be allowed to engage in marketing activities, potentially costing them money.
Vaccinated players will not face those restrictions.
"I'm just hoping that we do it because I don't want to have to wear my mask in here anymore," Shanahan said last month. "And I want to be able to have team meetings in our normal meeting room and be able to hang out with each other when we go on the road to hotels. So hopefully that'll work out."
San Francisco's Tier 1 and Tier 2 staff own a 100 percent vaccination rate.