White Sox Requiring Minor-League Players to Get COVID-19 Booster Vaccine

The Chicago White Sox are doing what they can to protect the players and employees within their organization.

"The Chicago White Sox are requiring all of our employees to be up to date on their COVID-19 vaccination status, and this requirement extends to our minor-league players as well," the team said in a statement, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. "We believe this is the right thing to do to protect the health and well being of all our players and staff across the organization."

Passan noted this means all minor-league players must have their booster vaccines before spring training even though Major League Baseball is not requiring minor-league players to be vaccinated at large.

Passan provided more context to the situation:       

That the White Sox are taking proper precautions isn't a surprise considering they reached the 85 percent vaccination threshold at the major-league level in May of last season, per Lamond Pope of the Chicago Tribune.

Reaching that threshold meant fewer restrictions for players when it came to things like mask wearing and eating at restaurants when they were on the road.

"We all are being smart," shortstop Tim Anderson said at the time. "Just do what makes sense."

As for baseball as a whole, there is still a lockout as the league and the players' association attempt to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. There was a delay at the start of the 2020 campaign as the two sides ironed things out related to a number of issues, including health and safety protocols while playing during a pandemic.

The White Sox are taking matters in their own hands with this decision.

Chicago has four minor league teams in its system: the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, Double-A Birmingham Barons, A-Advanced Winston-Salem Dash and the Single-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.