"I'm just evaluating everything right now," a masked Nick Bosa said at the start of training camp when asked about his vaccination status. "I haven't made a decision quite yet, but just following the protocols and see where it goes."
It sounds like the San Francisco 49ers defensive end is done evaluating and decided to join the vast majority of his teammates and players around the league in getting vaccinated.
"Nick Bosa, who was one of the few 49ers who hadn't received a COVID-19 vaccination when training camp began, has now been vaccinated, according to a league source," wrote Matt Barrows of The Athletic.
That means Bosa won't be subject to the NFL restrictions in place for unvaccinated players. That's good news for the 49ers, who won't have to worry about losing their best pass rusher should he be identified as a close-contact to someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
"There's a big advantage if you're vaccinated, and you're deemed a close-contact," general manager John Lynch said this week. "If you're vaccinated, you're pretty much good. If you're not vaccinated, you might be out, by virtue of being around someone who may have had it, you might be out for 10 days. You can imagine, that'd be a heck of a way to lose a guy when you have that choice."
Lynch added that all but four 49ers players had received at least one shot of the vaccine. That's a vaccination rate of about 96 percent. As of last week, the league average among players was 91.7 percent.
"And then everybody else in the building is (vaccinated)," Lynch said. "Our group did a really good job. We didn't mandate anything. We educated people, and I think a lot of people arrived (at the right decision)."
Bosa is returning from a torn ACL suffered in September of 2020. The 49ers have been cautious in their efforts to ramp up the pass rusher's workload during training camp. Bosa didn't play on Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs and isn't expected to start participating in team drills until next week, after the team returns from its trip to play the Los Angeles Chargers this weekend.
Added Barrows: "[Bosa] was seen wearing a mask on the sideline during Saturday's game, an indication that his vaccination was recent."
