Grand Ronde Tribe vaccinates Trail Blazers

Thirteen players on the Portland Trail Blazers’ roster received their first dose of the Moderma COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday through the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the team announced on its website.

An excess supply of vaccine enabled the tribe to begin serving the general public in February. The club expressed its gratitude to the tribe for making vaccines available to the public.

“Our organization and players encourage everyone to get the COVID-19 vaccine,” the organization said. “As vaccination efforts continue to ramp up, we will continue to use our platform via public service announcements and other messaging to raise awareness on the safety, efficacy and importance of vaccination so our state and communities can come out of this awful pandemic as soon as possible.”

The tribe is using its gymnasium as a full-staffed vaccination site. Players and several team staff members traveled to Grand Ronde on their own to be vaccinated. Neither the team nor the tribe released the names of those players who were vaccinated. There are 15 players on the roster.

Center Jusuf Nurkic, who currently is sidelined while recovering from a surgery, posted this message on his Twitter feed:

“I got my vaccine today. I can’t live in fear of infecting someone else and the people I love. The best protection is vaccine and the fastest way to get back to normal.”

The tribe’s vaccine distribution effort has reached the booster (second dose) stage, the tribal newspaper, Smoke Signals, reported.

Shots to the general public were first given in early February to more than 1,600 people. About 1,000 booster shots have been provided, according to the paper.