Minnesota Vikings Have Lowest Vaccination Rate in the NFL
The Minnesota Vikings are on the road to a heavily disrupted Covid-19 2021 season if they continue as they are.
At 64.5%, the Minnesota Vikings have the lowest rate of fully vaccinated players in the league. As well as that Kirk Cousins, the leader of the team, appears as though he could be problematic.
The 32 year old quarterback recently missed four practices as a result of the NFL’s safety protocols. He was deemed a close contact when rookie quarterback Kellen Mond tested positive for Covid-19.
Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has been vocal in his frustration over players not taking the vaccine. There have been mixed messages regarding Kirk Cousins. Zimmer previously said that Cousins ‘doesn’t believe in’ the Covid protocols, and won’t get vaccinated.
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Now via ESPN, Cousins was at pains to say he very much does believe in the NFL and NFLPA safety protocols. He says he will do ‘whatever it takes’ to stay healthy this year.
However, if he isn’t going to take the vaccine, the Vikings will undoubtedly encounter more positive tests this upcoming season.
“As I said to Coach [Mike] Zimmer last night, I said, ‘We can meet in the indoor, we can meet outside,'” Cousins said. “And I said, ‘If it means meeting outside under a goalpost in January, if that’s what it takes to get to the playoffs and be in playoff games and win playoff games, then that’s where we’re going to meet.’ We’re going to avoid this close-contact thing with everything we possibly can do. I was not aware of the meeting room size being an issue. Otherwise, I would have spoken up and said, ‘We obviously can’t meet here.'”
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“I do believe that as a leader of the team, it’s very important to follow the protocols to avoid this close contact — because that is what it’s going to come down to,” Cousins said. “Did you have a close contact? So I’m going to be vigilant about avoiding a close contact. I’ve even thought about, should I just set up literally Plexiglas around where I sit, so this could never happen again? I’ve thought about it, because I’m going to do whatever it takes. We’re going to avoid this close-contact thing, and I look forward to making sure I’m playing for every game this year.”
