Story at a glance
- The NFL is considering mandating vaccinations among players and staff.
- Currently, about 93 percent of NFL players are vaccinated.
- The league is currently in talks with the Players’ Association.
The NFL announced on Thursday that the organization is still considering mandating vaccinations for all players.
The league’s Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills confirmed that about 93 percent of players in the league have been vaccinated voluntarily, leaving roughly 200 players unvaccinated.
“I feel we are in a much better place than we were last year at this time (because) we have a much more complete understanding of this virus and its transmission, and the testing and identification of it,” Sills said on Thursday.
‘THE WAR HAS CHANGED’: CDC DOCUMENT WARNS DELTA VARIANT MORE SEVERE THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LAMBDA CORONAVIRUS VARIANT
SOME AMERICANS ARE GETTING VACCINATED SECRETLY BECAUSE THEY FEAR BACKLASH
BIDEN CALLS FOR $100 PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS TO GET VACCINATED
To address the remaining 7 percent of players, NFL general counsel Larry Ferazani said leadership is considering implementing a vaccine mandate.
“We still would love to see that mandate go into effect tomorrow,” Ferazani said.
For a vaccine mandate to go into effect, the league would need approval from the NFL Players’ Association. While negotiations within NFL officials and Players’ Union leaders are ongoing, Ferazani said that the league also proposed that even vaccinated players be tested once a week instead of biweekly.
A vaccine mandate aims to help prevent outbreaks among teams and keep game schedules on track. In July, The Athletic reported that teams who suffer COVID-19 outbreaks among players and staff will be forced to forfeit their games if they can’t be rescheduled in the fall season’s 18 weeks.
The forfeit would result in a loss, which would affect the team’s playoff seedings.
PANDEMIC IS ‘SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL,’ SAYS TOP TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL
CALIFORNIA CITIES ARE DEFYING MASK MANDATES
ALMOST HALF OF NEW COVID-19 CASES ARE HAPPENING IN THREE STATES
ONE STATE HAS HAD 5,000 INFECTIONS, 80 DEATHS OF VACCINATED PEOPLE
changing america copyright.
