US NHL Players Starting To Receive COVID Vaccine

With the U.S. ahead of schedule on the vaccine rollout, a small number of NHL players have begun receiving doses.

Sportsnet's Chris Johnston said during the Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday that the distribution pace of COVID-19 vaccination differs for each state, province and country.

Johnston said the NHL has been made aware of some players who have received the vaccine because of the city they live in.

"That hasn’t reached the point where it’s systematic yet," he said. "It’s not as though a team has been able to secure a vaccine for all its staff and its players just yet, but this process of getting the league vaccinated is now underway."

The article details that 16.7% of Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 8.6% have received both doses.

The state of Massachusetts, home to the Boston Bruins, is one of the states doing well, with 20.2% of the population having received at least one dose of the vaccine.

A COVID-19 vaccine tracker operated by the University of Saskatchewan's Noah Little found that only 4.64% of Canadians have received at least one dose, Sportsnet reports.

“There’s no saying how long this will take because, here in Canada, it has not happened on the same level as in the U.S.," Johnston said. "But it has started south of the border.”