The NFL is updating its COVID-19 policy as the virus surges and case clusters sideline prominent players and coaches.
The league’s new goal is to test vaccinated players once every seven days instead of once every 14 days, NFL general counsel Larry Ferazani said Thursday. This rule will only apply to players who are vaccinated. Players who are not fully vaccinated will continue to be tested daily.
The proposal requires approval from the NFL Players Association, which has been pushing for all players, vaccinated and unvaccinated, to be tested daily. “That is based on our best effort … to render the safest possible environment for our players,” Ferazani said.
In a statement to ESPN, the NFLPA stopped short of accepting the proposal. “The COVID environment is constantly changing and our success last year was built not only on a foundation of cooperation, but more importantly, on listening to our experts. It is clear with what we know about the Delta variant and with what we have seen already with clubs, testing needs to be a greater focal point,” the NFLPA said.
The league is making good progress on vaccination. As of Thursday, nearly 93% of NFL players are at least partially vaccinated, according to NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills. Staff members have been nearly 100% vaccinated since the start of training camp.
The NFLPA’s push to test all players daily is rooted in protocols adopted for the 2020 season, which were put in place and carried out before vaccines were available. Dr. Sills, however, said that testing itself did not prevent outbreaks last season and that other mitigation policies — including masking and avoiding in-person meetings and meals — proved more valuable. “People tend to focus on safety, and it’s very important that we realize that testing is not prevention,” Sills said. “Testing is not preventing anyone from transmitting the virus. It is one part of our mitigation strategy but it’s not the key part. … Testing is obviously something that is helpful and it can be beneficial but we try to apply it in a targeted and intelligent manner and we try to test those people that are most at risk, and that’s what we’ll continue to recommend. But it’s not testing that will get us through this surge or the future of our season here.”
