All three Canadian MLS teams have got first round of COVID-19 vaccinations

SANDY, Utah – All three Canadian MLS teams have got their first shots of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Vancouver Whitecaps, who have set up shop at Real Salt Lake’s Utah home due to pandemic-related border restrictions, got their vaccinations Tuesday.

“I feel good,” coach Marc Dos Santos told reporters Wednesday. “My arm just feel sore, as if you lifted weights at the gym. But that’s all.”

Unlike Vancouver, Toronto FC and CF Montreal are based out of Florida.

TFC posted video last week of players getting their COVID-19 vaccinations. A CF Montreal club spokesman said his team had also received its first round of vaccinations.

Moving to the U.S. may have had its vaccine benefits.

All Florida residents 18 years of age and older are now eligible for vaccination. In Utah, the vaccine is available to everyone 16 and older.

“We worked closely with the Utah Department of Health to co-ordinate the right timing, as it was very important to us that we did not take away vaccines from those in need,” Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement. “We encourage everyone to receive their vaccine when they are able to do so.”

TFC GM Ali Curtis said while the MLS team encouraged everyone to get the vaccine, it was not mandatory. The club held a Zoom call for all players and staff with four doctors including an infectious diseases specialist to answer questions about the vaccines.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2021