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85% Of Chicago Bears Players Are Vaccinated Against COVID-19, And Team Hopes That Number Goes Up

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (CBS) -- The Bears are set to start Training Camp Wednesday, with players battling for jobs and everyone battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

As CBS 2's Marshall Harris reported Tuesday, one of the biggest questions as the Bears enter this week's camp is just how they are doing with the vaccination rate.

While around 80 percent of the NFL's players have had at least one shot, General Manager Ryan Pace said his team is around 85 percent vaccinated.

"Everyone has different opinions on what they want to do, but if we just tell them, 'Hey listen – for these different reasons, in can be a lot more convenient, you know, from the football world, and for these reasons, it can be really good for you health-wise,' and then they've got to make their decision, and that's kind of what we've done," said Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy.

"That's the goal for everybody is to be able to complete the season – not have any missed games or anything like that – you know, and obviously, the most effective way of that would be everybody being vaccinated, or for the most part, the majority of people being vaccinated," said Bears receiver Allen Robinson.

The NFL is making this season much harder for the vaccinated. Unvaccinated players have to wear a mask inside and get tested daily, and can't leave the hotel except to play the game when traveling on the road.

Meanwhile, the NFL has warned that if an outbreak among unvaccinated players causes the cancellation of a game, the league said the team responsible will have to forfeit the game and no game checks will be issued.

The team that suffered the outbreak will also be responsible for any shortfall in the league's revenue-sharing pool.

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