Brewers Join COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign

The Milwaukee Brewers and the City of Milwaukee have partnered on a new public relations campaign intended to encourage more people to seek out a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Brewers organization held a virtual press conference Monday morning with Mayor Tom Barrett and Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson announcing that a number of Brewers were vaccinated over the weekend.

The conference was the same day that the state expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine to everyone 16 years or older.

Barrett said the vaccine is the best way to fight back against the COVID-19 pandemic, and that partnering with the Brewers to advocate for vaccination “sends such a positive message to people of all ages and people of all backgrounds.”

The Brewers released a public service announcement Monday featuring players advocating vaccination so that Milwaukee can “Crush COVID”.

David Stearns, president of baseball operations for the Brewers, said a “significant chunk” of the team’s roster received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine the previous weekend, though he wouldn’t go into specifics on how many that was.

He said the Brewers understand that vaccination is the key to getting back to normal. “We also recognize that our players are role models,” and can serve as an example to the public at large, he said.

That’s why the Brewers are working with the city to encourage vaccination.

Brent Suter, a pitcher for the Brewers, said he got vaccinated for his family and to do his part to beat back the pandemic. “Wearing the mask, the distancing, was trying to curb it,” he said, “now we can beat this thing.”

Suter and his wife both had COVID-19 this winter. He said they didn’t have a severe reaction, but that it was a long, unpleasant experience.

Suter said he is talking to his teammates about getting vaccinated, and said he made his decision after speaking with physicians who told him the vaccine was safe and effective.

Dr. Mark Niedfeldt was one of those doctors, being the team physician for the Brewers. Niedfeldt said the vaccines available represent a “remarkable advance in science and technology.”

“The development of these vaccines is truly unprecedented in human history,” he said. “We’ve never developed anything this fast, this quickly and this effective.”

The vaccines have proven to be effective in preventing severe COVID-19 outcomes like hospitalization and death. Niedfeldt pointed to Israel where the latest data has shown a dramatic decrease in cases, hospitalizations and deaths following its mass vaccination efforts.

The Middle-Eastern country is fast returning to life as it was before the pandemic hit. And the participants in the press conference Monday all agreed this is among the reasons everyone should seek to be vaccinated.

Freddy Peralta, another Brewers pitcher, explained that vaccination will bring back some of the joys of pre-pandemic life for the players and the public. He said vaccination will mean he and others on the team will see life on the road and during the season start to return to normal, allowing them to spend time with each other off the field and visit safely with members of their family.

And, of course, more vaccinations will mean the Brewers can some day play in an American Family Field that is at full capacity.

Milwaukee Brewers Vaccine PSA