Ole Miss Football Coach Hypes Shocking 100% Vaccination Rate on Morning Joe: ‘We Did Not Make Anyone Do Anything’

Considering the brutally low percentage of people getting vaccinated against Covid in the state of Mississippi, a 100 percent vaccination rate for the Ole Miss football team is a stunning turn of events.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe Thursday, where he lauded his team and medical staff for getting vaccinated. In all, 240 people associated with the program received the Covid jab.

“I didn’t get it done,” Kiffin said after being asked how the feat was accomplished. “We have a great medical staff here. We just gave all of our players, coaches and all our employees education and brought in outside doctors.”

“We did not make anyone do anything but was really proud of our team, starting with our coaches. Our entire staff did it a while back so that our players knew how important it was,” Kiffin explained of his SEC football team. “We weren’t going to advise them what we think was the best thing to do, if we’re not doing it ourselves.”

Mississippi has enjoyed a spike in vaccinations since July, but they still markedly trail the nation’s average. Last week, Mississippi ranked last in the country with a vaccination rate of 41.6 percent, having just 33 percent of its state population fully vaccinated against Covid.

“Hope it’s motivated our state, because we’re toward the bottom and I think at one point last in vaccination rate and our hospitals have an issue with that,” Kiffin said of Mississippi’s discouraging Covid status. “Hopefully, we’re leading the charge to help that.”

Ole Miss became the first and, so far, only reported college or NFL football team to reach a perfect vaccination rate. As Kiffin notes, the feat appeared to be a distant goal not that long ago.

“We were not very close, as of a few weeks ago,” Kiffin said. “I think we were down near 60 percent three or four weeks ago. Just to see the players come together and I think what they would say is they decided to protect their team.”

Earlier this year, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announced teams would be forced to forfeit if they’re unable to play due to a Covid outbreak. Teams that reach the 85 percent mark are also exempt from regular testing and having to comply with the conference’s Covid protocols.

Watch above via MSNBC

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