(Reuters) – Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was removed from the National Football League’s reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday, clearing the way for the three-time most valuable player to play against the Seattle Seahawks.
Rodgers, who is unvaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 last week and received widespread criticism for telling reporters in August that he was “immunized” when he was asked if he had been vaccinated.
The 37-year-old quarterback sat out the Packers’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday due to league COVID-19 protocols, which call for a mandatory 10-day quarantine period for unvaccinated players who test positive.
Green Bay (7-2) are scheduled to host the Seahawks (3-5) on Sunday.
The Packers did not say whether Rodgers would be the starting quarterback, only that he had been activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Rodgers said he has an allergy to an ingredient in the mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna Inc and so he declined to take those.
He did not take the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to concerns about side effects, he said.
The NFL on Wednesday fined the Packers $300,000 and two players, including Rodgers, $14,650 each for violating COVID-19 protocols.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Toby Davis)
