Trail Blazers to require proof of vaccination for home games

The Trail Blazers will require proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to attend home games at Moda Center next season, the team announced on Wednesday.

Updated admittance rules to protect against the spread of coronavirus go into effect for all events taking place at the Rose Quarter beginning September 4. They first apply to the Blazers a month later, when Portland opens its preseason slate for 2021-22 against the Golden State Warriors on October 4.

Vaccinated attendees aged 12 and older must provide a CDC-issued vaccination card or a digital or printed-out photo of the card to be admitted to Moda Center. Unvaccinated patrons will only be admitted if they show a physical or digital photo of a negative COVID-19 PCR test conducted in the 72 hours leading up to the event. 

Masks will continue to be mandatory both inside the Moda Center and on the Rose Quarter campus while not actively eating and drinking.

The Blazers were one of the last teams in the NBA a season ago to allow fans at home games, opening Moda Center at 10 percent capacity on May 6. Two-and-a-half weeks later, in the middle of Portland's first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, capacity was expanded to include sections reserved solely for vaccinated fans.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown recently reinstated an outdoor mask mandate—regardless of vaccination status—for instances when physical distancing is not possible. The Oregon Health Authority also reported on Tuesday over 1,000 current hospitalizations for COVID-19, a new pandemic high reflecting both the highly contagious nature of the Delta variant and uncontrolled spread among the approximately 40 percent of Oregon adults who remain unvaccinated.