Newest Toronto Blue Jay Whit Merrifield got a COVID-19 vaccine and can now play in his team’s home games. Canada does not allow unvaccinated people into the country, which has prevented dozens of MLB players from playing against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto, including Merrifield in July.
The country’s vaccination mandates may or may not have played a role in who the Blue Jays looked to acquire at the trade deadline. But it seemed Merrifield understood the possibility and wanted to be playing in his team’s most important games as the postseason approaches. “For a couple of weeks now, I’ve understood that this might be a possibility. I’ll be in Toronto when the team goes there,” Merrifield said, via MLB.com. In July, Merrifield said he thought hard about vaccines and concluded he wouldn’t get one. But he said he had always kept his mind open, citing playing in important games in Canada.
“It’s what, based on the experiences and conversations and what I’ve seen, this is the conclusion I’ve come to,” Merrifield said at the time. “Right or wrong, I didn’t do it on a whim. It’s been a long thought process because, again, I understand what Canada has in place right now. That’s the only reason I would think about getting it at this point. To go to Canada.