Nationals fire employees over vaccination status

The Washington Nationals fired a small number of full-time staff in wake of the team’s recent vaccine mandate, according to a report â€" making the baseball club one of the first professional sports teams to terminate employment over an individual’s vaccination status.

The Athletic reported the Nationals parted ways with eight scouts, at least two of whom were unvaccinated. Last week, the Nationals publicly acknowledged a vaccine mandate for non-playing, full-time employees,  including coaches, executives and staff.

The rule change went into effect Aug. 12 and employees had until Aug. 26 to “provide proof of vaccination, proof of first shot or apply for an exemption,” the team said.

“As a company, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep one another safe and felt that mandating vaccines was the absolute right thing to do for our employees and our community,” the Nationals said in a statement Friday.

The Nationals’ decision to act signals what is a likely shift in professional sports as franchises go from encouraging to mandating the vaccine. A handful of other MLB teams â€" such as the Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers â€" have instituted similar policies, while leagues like the NFL and NBA have protocols in place that require vaccination in order to interact with players.

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