KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this week that nearly 50 percent of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Count Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes in that list. The pair spoke candidly with the media Monday on their decisions to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“To me, it was more of a personal decision with having the baby girl and knowing that I was gonna be around people,” Mahomes said.
He and fiance Brittany Mathews welcomed daughter Sterling in February. The NFL sent an April memo to Tier 1 and Tier 2 (non-player employees)requiring proof of vaccination “unless they have an underlying medical or religious reason for not doing so.”
“I wanted to make sure I could do whatever I could help keep her healthy,” Mahomes said.
Coach Reid estimated 18 Chiefs staffers were already vaccinated at the start of the team's offseason training program on April 15, with the expectation that the number rises.
“There's a handful of them that have already been vaccinated, myself included,” Reid started. “I don't want anybody to get sick and I surely don't want anybody to pass away.”
Kansas City was part of a pair of virus induced scheduling hiccups during the 2020 regular season, postponing games from Sunday to Monday.
