Yankees Report 2nd Outbreak Among Vaccinated Players

The New York Yankees' Thursday night game against the Red Sox was canceled after another coronavirus outbreak among fully vaccinated players. The team says pitchers Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes Jr., and Wandy Peralta have confirmed positive tests, CNN reports. Two of them received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the third had either the Pfizer or the Moderna, the team says. Another three players who tested positive in rapid tests are in the process of having infections confirmed, the team says. Sources tell ESPN that outfielder Aaron Judge, who was in Denver for the All-Star game Tuesday, is among the players that tested positive.

"It’s a fluid situation that could spread. It has spread to some degree," said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, per the AP. The team, which has been operating under relaxed COVID protocols after reaching a vaccination rate of 85%, had another outbreak in May. Cashman says the players who tested positive are "doing well thus far," a sign that vaccines are doing their job despite the infections. Vaccination "doesn’t prevent you from contracting COVID; it prevents you from the severe, worst-case-scenario effects of COVID," he said, per the New York Times. "We're thankful that we’re vaccinated in most cases—not all cases—and therefore we’re ultimately protected." (More coronavirus stories.)