Former prospect sues White Sox claiming COVID-19 vaccination ended his career

Former prospect sues White Sox claiming COVID-19 vaccination ended his career

A former White Sox pitching prospect is suing the team, claiming he was pushed into taking a COVID-19 vaccination in 2021 that resulted in severe allergic reactions that eventually derailed his career.Isaiah Carranza, a 12th-round draft pick of the Sox in 2018, alleges team officials warned him he’d be “blacklisted” if he didn’t get two doses of the vaccine, meaning they wouldn’t release him from his contract for opportunities with other clubs even though had “no prospects of moving up” with the Sox.He got the Pfizer vaccine and soon began suffering “extreme dizziness, nausea, near-fainting, and wildly fluctuating heart rate” that the team chalked up to dehydration, anxiety and “rookie nerves,” attorneys for Carranza claimed in his federal lawsuit, which was filed in Chicago in December.Numerous studies have shown that COVID-19 vaccinations are highly effective at preventing severe cases of the respiratory disease, and that severe allergic reactions are exceedingly rare. The Illinois Department of Public Health recommends the vaccine for nearly all people six months or older, not necessarily as a means of preventing infections, but of minimizing the severity of them.Major League Baseball encouraged players to get vaccinated, but did not mandate it when the game returned early in the pandemic. Carranza was later diagnosed with a nervous system disorder that his lawyers tie to the vaccine. He never advanced beyond the Sox’ High-A affiliate and hasn’t appeared in a Minor League game since 2022.Carranza’s estimated future medical expenses are more than $557,000, his lawyers say. A Sox…

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