NEWSEight 'Fully Vaccinated' New York Yankees Players And Staff Test Positive For COVID-19
New York Yankees player Gleyber Torres tested positive for COVID-19, making him the eighth person part of the team to contract the virus this week despite being fully vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The other seven individuals are coaches and staff, who were all given the same brand of vaccine, but they reportedly did not all get a shot from the same batch.
On Thursday, May 13, MLB shared a statement, confirming Torres was the latest player on the Yankees to test positive, making this Torres' second time contracting COVID-19.
"The Yankees can today confirm that INF Gleyber Torres has received a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. He was fully vaccinated and previously had COVID-19 during the most recent baseball offseason," MLB stated, adding: "All of the positives are breakthrough positives, occurring with individuals who were fully vaccinated."
Yankees manager Aaron Boone also gave a health update on Torres during a press conference on Thursday, explaining that he is asymptomatic and "doing fine." At the time, Boone also confirmed, "Today was the first day of no new cases."
MLB revealed that the other positive cases on the team include coach Matt Blake, coach Phil Nevin and coach Reggie Willits, as well as four members of the Yankees' traveling staff. All eight individuals are currently quarantining in Tampa, Fla.
Meanwhile, "Major League Baseball, its medical experts and the New York State Department of Health are currently advising and assisting the Yankees, who continue to undergo additional testing and contact tracing," the press release concluded.
ESPN also reported the New York State Department of Health is investigating why and how the players, coaches and staff contracted the virus one month after being vaccinated.
"While there have been anecdotal reports of New Yorkers who have had a positive COVID test 14 or more days after receiving their last vaccine dose, DOH is investigating those cases along with the ones linked to the Yankees further to determine if they meet the formal CDC definition of vaccine breakthrough," the department said in a statement to the outlet.
