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Smart: Bulldog team at least 85 percent vaccinated

With the season only weeks away, UGA head coach Kirby Smart shared with Channel 2 Action News that at least 85% of his team is vaccinated.

Channel 2′s Alison Mastrangelo sat down one-on-one with Smart Tuesday before his SEC Media Days appearance in Hoover, Alabama.

SEC officials announced Monday that only six of the conference’s 14 teams has reached the 80% threshold for vaccination.

“We’re excited about what we have been able to do in that department, but we’re not done yet either,” Smart told Mastrangelo.

“It’s not achieve this number and stop. It’s about what’s right. It’s about what’s safe. It’s about educating our players.”

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey addressed the media on Monday, emphasizing the availability of vaccines for student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans.

“With six weeks to go before kickoff, now is the time to see that full vaccination. And we know nothing is perfect, but the availability and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines are an important and incredible product of science,” Sankey said.

“It’s not a political football, and we need to do our part to support a healthy society.”

For an SEC program to avoid regular COVID-19 testing and being required to wear masks while indoors, it must achieve an 85% vaccination threshold.

Sankey added the conference is considering removing the roster minimums and for games to be played as expected. If a team is not able to compete, a game won’t be rescheduled.

“We’ve not built in the kind of time we did last year, particularly at the end of the season, to accommodate disruption. And unless we’re going to do that, our teams are going to have to be fully prepared to play their season as scheduled, which is why embedded in my remarks is the vaccination motivation,” the commissioner said.

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