Vaccine mandates for athletes remain unlikely in Connecticut
As Hawaii and New York City government officials recently announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates of varying measures on high school sports, requiring some or all athletes to be inoculated in order to play this fall, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said any sort of requirements are still off the table.
Just days after Lamont, the state Department of Public Health and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference held a press conference to promote the vaccine, a spokesperson for the governor told The Courant on Friday that a vaccine mandate for athletes is not under consideration. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin declined to comment.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that athletes participating in high-risk fall sports — volleyball and football — wouldneedtoreceiveatleastthefirst dose of a COVID-19 vaccine prior to the first competition date. The Hawaii State Department of Education announced earlier this month that all high school athletes must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 24 in order to compete. Hawaii, like Connecticut, did not play high school football in 2020-21 calendar year.
While there will not be a mandate in Connecticut from the state or from the CIAC as of now, both parties have urged athletes to get vaccinated.
“It’s the best way to learn, it’s the best way to be with your friends, it’s the best way to be on the ball field,” Lamont said at a Monday press conference. “We are going to win. We have a little bit of work we’ve got to do. We really need
you to [get vaccinated]. It’s for your safety, it’s for your team so that nobody has to step off the field.”
Local health officials have advocated for inoculation among high school athletes, too. According to state data updated on Thursday, 49.2% of those aged 12-15 are fully vaccinated, while 57.3% of 16- to 24-year-olds are.
“It’s even critically more important to get vaccinated for those close contact sports,” Hartford Health Department director Liyany Arroyo said. “If you’re in someone’s face, we know that close contact, respiratory, we know you want to be as protected as much as possible from serious disease and death. Even though children and youth may not often get very sick from this, we still don’t know what could be long-term effects are from even a mild case of COVID.”
Connecticut high school football teams began organized team activities on Aug. 12. Full-contact practices are set to start on Saturday. Football, soccer, field hockey, girls swimming and girls volleyball can hold competitions starting Sept. 9, while golf will start Aug. 30.