Justin L. Fowler via Imagn Content Services, LLC

NFL wants to increase COVID testing for vaccinated players to weekly

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 8/26/21

Vaccinated NFL players currently receive several benefits that do not apply to unvaccinated individuals. One such benefit is that they are tested for COVID-19 only once every two weeks, compared to daily testing for unvaccinated players. However, that could change if the NFL gets its way.

On a conference call Thursday, the NFL’s general counsel said that they have proposed weekly testing of vaccinated players to the players’ union.

NFL general counsel Larry Ferazani says the league has proposed to the union testing fully vaccinated individuals once a week – rather than once every two weeks – in response to recent data. The union has been pushing for daily testing for everyone.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 26, 2021

The increase in testing would be in relation to the increase in positive tests from the Delta variant of COVID-19.

Here is the data for positive COVID-19 cases among NFL personnel from August 1-21.

Of those positive tests, Sills says there is a seven times higher incidence rate among unvaccinated players — 2.2% in unvaccinated, 0.3% in vaccinated.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 26, 2021

The Tennessee Titans have nine members of their franchise in COVID-19 protocol (not all for positive tests). Seven of them are players, and two are coaches. The “cluster” of positive COVID tests has prompted some concerns around the league about their policies entering the season.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: