NBA discussing COVID-19 vaccinations for players
According to the National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver, the league is looking to have players receive COVID-19 vaccinations as a way to serve as a public service announcement that it is safe. The league is hoping to help educate and influence the public into taking the vaccine.
“There have been discussions. It’s something we’re particularly focused on,” Silver said at a virtual conference on Tuesday hosted by Sportico, via TSN.
“In the African American community, there’s been enormously disparate impact from COVID … but now, somewhat perversely, there’s been enormous resistance [to vaccinations] in the African American community for understandable historical reasons. … If that resistance continues, it would be very much a double whammy to the Black community, because the only way out of this pandemic is to get vaccinated.”
There has been a lot of skepticism across the continent by many unwilling to take the vaccine, but the league believes it can help serve as an ambassador. By having some of the biggest stars on the planet get vaccinated, the NBA is hoping more people would be willing to take the vaccine themselves.
“Several public health officials — and this is operating state by state right now — have suggested there would be a real public health benefit to getting some very high-profile African Americans vaccinated to demonstrate to the larger community that it is safe and effective,” Silver said.
“At the appropriate time, whenever that is and whether that’s directed federally by NIH or CDC or ultimately state-by-state programs, we think there’s real value in our players demonstrating to a broader community how important it is to get vaccinated.”
While the NBA is hoping to have players onboard with the strategy going forward, many of them still need to be convinced themselves first before agreeing to get vaccinated.
“I’ve heard they want Black influencers to step up, convince the Black community to do this,” the executive director of the NBA Players Association Michele Roberts said in an interview with Yahoo Sports last month, via TSN. “I’m just waiting on the tap on the shoulder to say, ‘Michele, will the players do this?’ I know it’s coming.
“But I haven’t made up my mind. I’m eager to be convinced that these are safe. I’m hopeful I’ll be convinced that they’re safe. But I’m not a cheerleader.”
The NBA was one of the first professional sports leagues in North America to resume play after they were forced to suspend the season in March due to the pandemic. They began play again in the summer to conclude the 2019-2020 campaign, but did so inside of a bubble in Orlando, Florida. Players on teams participating in the playoffs lived inside of the bubble until they were either eliminated or the postseason concluded.
The same approach is not being taking by the league during the current campaign as teams are travelling across the United States playing in local markets. While some games have had to be postponed due to COVID-19 related issues, the league is planning to continue full steam ahead.
