The National Football League Players Association will be recommending to the league that teams require players and staff to undergo daily coronavirus testing regardless of vaccination status.
A memo from the NFLPA sent to its members on Wednesday said they recommended increasing the frequency of testing based on “the current outlook on COVID-19, the Delta variant and the results of the first week of training camp testing analysis,” according to ESPN.
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The current COVID-19 protocols require vaccinated individuals to get tested once every 14 days, while those who aren’t vaccinated are tested daily. The updated suggestion comes as the country is going through a rise in cases from the delta variant.
The memo explained that the NFL and the NFLPA have tested 2,528 players and 4,549 staff members and found at least 65 positive cases — adding that of those positive tests, 32 were from vaccinated individuals.
“We have consistently stated that football will go the way of our communities, and multiple cities and states are experiencing record surges in infections and hospitalizations due to the Delta variant,” the memo read. “Based on our experience from last year, the number of positive tests in the first week of training camp is cause for concern.”
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL chief medical officer, said the league is “collecting a lot of data and we will continue to share that data with our experts,” adding that “if we think we need more frequent information, vis-a-vis with more frequent testing, then we’ll discuss that again with the NFLPA and make that decision jointly.”
Ninety percent of the players are vaccinated, the league announced earlier this week. Nine teams have hit the 95% threshold, and 27 of the 32 teams have hit the 85% marker.
The league has not mandated the vaccine for players, but they are subject to strict protocols during training camp and throughout the season. Vaccinated players can resume typical functions without limitation. A handful of assistant coaches have been pushed out of their positions over their refusal to get vaccinated.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to every team in the league on July 22 explaining the league’s policy that organizations with COVID-19 outbreaks are at risk of forfeiting games that are unable to be rescheduled within the confines of the season.
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The memo said there have been two outbreaks inside club facilities this season already, but Sills said he wouldn’t characterize the “multiple positive cases within a team” as an outbreak.
“That’s very different to us from an outbreak, which we would define as uncontrolled spread without an understanding of the chain of transmission and lack of protection of individuals, and I am quite adamant that that is not what we’ve seen from any of our clubs to this point,” he said.
