‘Strategic’ game plan
League’s revised protocols could serve as blueprint
The NFL’S decision to reduce COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic, vaccinated players could signal a trend for pro sports leagues and provide an example for society to follow heading into 2022.
Despite a rising number of positive cases that forced three games to be rescheduled over the weekend, the NFL, in cooperation with the players’ union, agreed Saturday to scale back testing for vaccinated players. The move aligns with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends “diagnostic testing” only for symptomatic or close-contact vaccinated people, and “screening tests” only for unvaccinated people.
The NFL previously required vaccinated players to get tested weekly before amending the protocols. The NFLPA had advocated for daily testing for vaccinated players but eventually agreed to “target” testing.
The NBA didn’t require vaccinated players to get tested during the season but revised its policy to increase testing for a two-week period starting Dec. 26.
The NHL tested players every third day but returned to daily testing through at least Jan. 7.
“I think the NFL is actually going to be a really interesting and I think really safe real-world experiment on what our new normal is likely going to look like,” Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and professor at the University of Washington, said. “And, it’s safe to say that the NFL is obviously a large vaccine bubble, sans a few high-profile exceptions.
“We can’t continue the status quo, ad infinitum, where we are testing regularly people that are otherwise healthy, asymptomatic, triple-vaccinated, just to detect the asymptomatic individual who might be positive ... because then you’re going to quarantine that individual who might be asymptomatic or having mild symptoms, who is triple-vaccinated, who might for a small period of time, be infectious to others who presumably are also vaccinated.”
Almost 95% of NFL players and nearly all coaching staffs are vaccinated.
Gupta, an informal consultant for the Seahawks on COVID-19 issues and an adviser for baseball’s Mariners, says the NFL is “ahead of the curve” with target and voluntary testing.
“I think they’re able to do things that the rest of the country is unable to do because they have a vaccine bubble, and they can control things to a certain degree that we can’t control across the public at large, and so it’s an interesting experiment,” Gupta said. “We have to build policies and procedures and case management protocols around positive tests that make sense.”
On Monday, the first day under the NFL’S revised protocols, 47 players were placed on the reserve/covid19 list, the most in a single day since the pandemic began. Several players were asymptomatic and vaccinated.
The league says Monday’s results are evidence its new “smarter” and more “strategic” testing policy is working. Positive cases were identified and the players were isolated. Players who test positive must quarantine until they’re cleared to return. Under the new procedures, vaccinated players can return in fewer than 10 days.
Many people have questioned the league’s motives for changing testing protocols at a time when the number of positive cases have increased rapidly due to the omicron variant.
“The other side is that they’re going to have more players that are out there that are infected that are potentially transmitting to other players and leading to a greater burden of infections,” said Dr. David Hamer, professor of global health and medicine at Boston University. “This change ... makes me nervous because of omicron surging.”
It’s fair to wonder if the NFL is putting its desire to finish the season uninterrupted ahead of health and safety. But the league and its team of doctors point to science and data.
Along with new testing policies, the league over the past week has emphasized booster shots for players, mandated the boosters for coaches and other staff, and provided options for virtual meetings. All players are provided home tests and anyone can be tested whenever they want.
“... We have learned from health care, and it’s very relevant to try some of the same strategies that are used in health care when it comes to the NFL population as well,” said Dr. Deverick Anderson, Professor of Medicine at the Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention and co-founder and co-owner of Infection Control Education for Major Sports.