SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 26: A detailed view of the new T-Mobile Park sign as the Seattle Mariners take on the San Diego Padres during their spring training game at T-Mobile Park on March 26, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
Abbie Parr/Getty Images
All guests ages 12 and up at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or else will need to submit a negative COVID test upon entry.
T-Mobile Park, home to the Seattle Mariners, is one of several Seattle sports venue to announce vaccination entry requirements in a single day. Lumen Field, Climate Pledge Arena and Husky Stadium also announced Tuesday that they would be requiring guests to be vaccinated.
The T-Mobile Park order begins after the team's final regular season game on Oct. 3. A news release from the Mariners said additional details about the order will be announced at a later date.
“The evidence is clear — vaccination is safe and effective in preventing serious illness from COVID-19,” Mariners Sr. Vice President Trevor Gooby said in the release. “We are making this announcement now to give our Season Ticket Members and other fans the opportunity to get vaccinated before the requirement takes effect.”
The requirement Gooby is referring to is a Tuesday announcement by King County that said the county is looking to make vaccination against the virus a condition for entering some non-essential businesses. If that program comes to fruition, vaccines requirements could be seen at several King County businesses as early as next month.
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In addition to getting vaccinated, Mariners fans hoping to attend post-season games will need to comply with King County’s latest mask mandate, which requires everyone ages 5 and up — regardless of vaccination status — to wear a mask outdoors while at a gathering of more than 500 people. Fans are only allowed to remove their masks while actively eating or drinking.
Mariners staff were told last month they would need to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 4 or face termination.
The slew of vaccine requirement orders comes at a time when COVID cases are surging statewide, fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus. Washington is averaging more than 2,300 new cases a day and hospitalizations have risen 8% over the last two weeks. Those figures are lower than they have been in recent weeks, but are still far higher than they were before the emergence of the Delta variant over the summer.
The CDC says that a person is fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving a final dose of a COVID vaccine. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires one. Currently, 55% of Washington residents are fully vaccinated.
