Anthony Behar/Sipa USA

Yankee Stadium becomes COVID-19 vaccination site

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Feb 5, 2021 5:26 PM ET

The biggest shot that will occur at Yankee Stadium during the winter months won't have anything to do with a baseball sailing over a short right-field porch.

As noted by the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), the home of the New York Yankees officially opened as a COVID-19 vaccination site on Friday:

LIVE: New York City Mayor de Blasio gives a vaccine update from Yankee Stadium https://t.co/IM5MjuKhts
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 5, 2021

"This is about protecting people who need the most protection because the Bronx is one of the places that bore the brunt of this crisis of the coronavirus," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a media event. "The Bronx has suffered."

De Blasio is a noted Boston Red Sox fan but wore a Yankees hat while speaking with reporters:

Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Red Sox fan, visits the new mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium: "For one day only, I will declare myself a Yankees fan."
He is visibly uncomfortable wearing this hat. "I'll talk about the full emotional experience later," he jokes. pic.twitter.com/SrjPt24uSc
— Emma G. Fitzsimmons (@emmagf) February 5, 2021

The AP added that it's hoped medical personnel will complete 15,000 appointments at the site within the first week.

Reports emerged earlier in the day that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently offered all of the league's stadiums as vaccination sites in a letter written to President Joe Biden. Seven NFL venues are already in the rotation, but the others are expected to join the list at some point following Super Bowl LV.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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