Eight Vaccinated New York Yankees Members Test Positive For COVID-19

Eight members of the New York Yankees have tested positive for coronavirus this week despite being inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the baseball team said Thursday.

According to CNN, the eight infected Yankees include coaches, staff members and a player. Seven do not have symptoms, said Jason Zillo, the team’s vice president of communications.

The Yankees said the eight infected members received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two weeks ago.

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The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 72% effective against Covid-19 among US trial participants and 85% effective against severe Covid-19. The two-dose vaccines used in the US, from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, are both about 95% effective.

It’s not possible to get Covid-19 from any of those three vaccines because none of them contains coronavirus.

But if someone does get Covid-19 after being fully vaccinated, the symptoms will likely be far less severe than if they didn’t get vaccinated at all, said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University. This is similar to how flu vaccines work.

And the fact that almost all of the infected Yankees don’t have symptoms shows how “remarkably great” the vaccine is at preventing people from getting sick from Covid-19, Reiner said.

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Of the eight team members who tested positive, only one – third base coach Phil Nevin – showed symptoms, Zillo said. He said Nevin is now feeling better.

The seven asymptomatic people who tested positive this week include staff members and shortstop Gleyber Torres.

Torres had tested positive in December but had since tested negative, the Yankees said.