Matt Patterson / Associated Press
NFL medical director Dr. Allen Sills expects players, coaches and staff will choose to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, although it is not expected to be a requirement.
As retransmitted by ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, Sills said Thursday on the NFL Network that the league “has no intention” of requiring the vaccine. The NFL is, however, working to combat vaccine hesitation.
“We are focusing on education,” said Sills. “We want everyone to have the facts.”
During next month’s recruiting, the league will require fewer teams that fill its war rooms with vaccinated individuals than clubs that will receive vaccinated and unvaccinated teams on recruitment day.
“You will see that vaccinated individuals may have certain privileges,” said Sills. “And certain precautions that are taken that don’t apply to unvaccinated individuals.”
This could quickly become one of the next major points of contention between the NFL and the Players Association. According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the union is advocating a fully virtual off-season – as was the case in 2020 – to allow the vaccine’s launch to continue and give the infection rate across the country more time to decrease.
Meanwhile, Seifert noted that “owners believe that daily testing will not be necessary this summer on the training ground., “with most players qualifying for the vaccine.
It is unclear whether individual clubs will require their employees to receive the vaccination before returning to the team’s facilities.