Many of the top NBA players are expressing concern about accepting invitations to participate in league-sponsored public service announcements to reinforce broader acceptance of the coronavirus vaccine, sources told ESPN.
The NBA’s reach to agents of many of the league’s elite players – with the hope of getting stars to participate in PSAs to promote the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness – has had a lukewarm response, the sources said. Players’ concerns about receiving the vaccine are consistent with those that also exist in black communities across the country, agents and players told ESPN.
Sources describe a number of factors that contribute to many players’ reluctance to participate, including uncertainty about getting the vaccine themselves, reluctance to defend its use for others, and resistance to granting favors to a league amid the unpopular plans of an All game -Star.
In a call with the league’s general managers on Tuesday, Commissioner Adam Silver continued to tell top team executives that the league would not “jump the line” from the general public to get vaccines, but he suggested an optimistic schedule that it included the possibility of delaying March and early April to start vaccinating players, the sources said. However, this is considered a fluid timetable, largely to reaffirm teams’ need to be prepared whenever the opportunity to vaccinate players comes from public health officials, the sources said.
The NBA shared an expectation of 70 million to 100 million doses of vaccine likely to be distributed in mid-March with the teams.
Within hours of calling the league’s GMs, Dr. Anthony Fauci – the country’s leading infectious disease specialist – told CNN that his original April hope as a target for wide availability of vaccines for those outside the priority groups could be postponed.
“This schedule is likely to be extended until mid-May and early June,” Fauci told CNN.
While the league works to educate players about the benefits of the vaccine, Silver told general managers that the process could be encouraged for teams and individuals with loosening quarantine and testing protocols for vaccinees, the sources said. These would be measures consistent with the CDC’s recommendations.
The NBA has worked to educate teams and players about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, including mandatory team seminars with Dr. Leroy Sims, the league’s senior vice president for medical affairs.
The NBA has made vaccine PSAs with Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, but there is a strong belief that the best players in the league – many of whom are black – can impact much more on communities black and brown, which were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic COVID-19.
“In the African American community, there has been an extremely disparate impact from COVID … but now, somewhat perversely, there has been enormous resistance [to vaccinations] in the African American community for understandable historical reasons, “Silver said recently.” If that resistance continues, it would be a double blow to the black community, because the only way out of this pandemic is to get vaccinated. “
Dr. Sims told ESPN on Wednesday that he completed 20 presentations to individual teams on the benefit of vaccines and hopes to have met virtually all 30 teams by Monday. Dr. Sims said he addressed the players’ presentations with an emphasis on scientific findings and data-based vaccines – and the potential well done in endorsing their use among the wider community.
“I tried to deal with the misinformation – that the development process was rushed, that the vaccine can alter the genetics, that the tests lacked diversity,” said Sims. “I get the question, ‘If I get this photo, will it affect my performance?’ I talked to them about the results, about the different types of vaccine, and concluded with the benefits of vaccination.
“I can say that these guys are listening based on the questions I’m getting. They also ask, ‘Why should we do this if there was not much time to see what the long-term effects are?’ These guys look at the data all the time. I know that they get the data and attract it at that level.
“When it comes to vaccinations, any long-term (problems) with vaccinations, you historically tend to see them in the first few months. Vaccines started going into people’s arms in March last year, so we already have a treasure trove of data and we are continuing to collect it.
“When I talk about leadership, I mean combating health disparities and the model of action, increasing community service, showing our support for public health and solid medical and scientific data. Our players are extremely sophisticated and they understand what I am asking for.
“One of the elite players in the league said to me, ‘Dr. Sims, what are you asking us to be spokespersons for? ‘ My answer was: Absolutely. Yes, we want you to be spokespersons. We want you to be our partners.
“But it is multifaceted. At the moment, they cannot take injections, but they can still show support to parents or grandparents who get the vaccines now; and when the time comes, they can show their support by talking and telling people that ‘I got it – or showing pictures of them receiving. There will be a huge benefit if some of our players speak out publicly supporting this, because their actions, their words have weight in the community. “
The NBA lost 30 games due to virus-related delays this season, and concerns about the short and long-term impact on the health of infected players remain. The NBA playoffs are scheduled to start on May 22, and the fear of positive tests or outbreaks that disrupt the postseason is part of the motivation to vaccinate as many players and staff as quickly as possible.