NFL player COVID-19 vaccination rate up slightly to 93.5%

It was reported last week that the NFL player COVID-19 vaccination rate remained steady at 93% after teams reduced rosters to 53 active players following preseason finales. 

NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills told ESPN's Kevin Seifert on Wednesday that 93.5% of players and over 99% of other football-related staff members have received at least one vaccine shot. During the conversation, Sills echoed comments recently made by Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coach John Calipari and reminded everybody that vaccines don't stop all so-called "breakthrough" COVID-19 cases but help keep such infections from sending somebody to a hospital. 

"Vaccines were designed to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death, and they're doing a terrific job both inside and outside the NFL," Sills explained. "What vaccines ideally do is convert more serious illnesses to more mild illnesses, and we're definitely seeing that as well. We're seeing people with no symptoms or very few symptoms and have a short duration of illness. I don't look at that as a vaccine failure. I look at that as a vaccine's success, that we're able to convert this into a mild respiratory illness."

In a message shared Tuesday, NFL Players Association president and Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter once again campaigned for the league to test all players daily for COVID-19. Currently, only unvaccinated players are tested daily, while vaccinated players are tested once a week.

Sills admitted the shots won't eliminate all positive cases from NFL locker rooms during the upcoming season but added it's hoped the vaccinations will turn COVID-19 "into a seasonal illness as opposed to a devastating pandemic." 

The NFL's message has remained the same since the spring: Being fully vaccinated is the best way players can avoid missing practices and games this season for reasons related to the coronavirus. Vaccinated players who test positive for COVID-19 can return to team activities without completing entire 10-day isolation periods as long as they are asymptomatic and deliver two negative virus tests 24 hours apart.