COVID in sports: the pandemic rages on despite high vaccination numbers
Posted November 3, 2021 5:05 pm.
Sidney Crosby and Aaron Rodgers are two of the latest big names in sports to test positive for COVID-19.
The two stars joined a growing list of players that will be missing or have missed games due to the novel coronavirus.
With major sports leagues having a nearly 100 per cent vaccination rate and strict COVID-19 protocols, players are still being forced to miss games due to the pandemic.
COVID in the NHL
At the beginning of the 2021-22 NHL season, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said 10 or fewer players were not going to be fully vaccinated when the season was set to start.
By mid-October, Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that number was down to four players.
Despite the high vaccination rate at the time, the NHL was already seeing players forced to miss games due to positive COVID-19 tests.
Halifax native Nathan MacKinnon was one of the first players to test positive for COVID-19, and missed the Colorado Avalanche’s first two games of the season.
“Tested positive for COVID, I didn’t believe them at first,” said MacKinnon after a morning skate on Oct, 12. “Didn’t feel anything. I was working out the whole time at home, doing all I can to stay in shape. It’s just unfortunate. You know, I didn’t infect anybody in my family. Nobody got sick. No teammates got sick. So that’s lucky I guess. Yeah, I didn’t feel anything.”
MacKinnon missed about a week before being able to rejoin his team.
Other teams haven’t been as fortunate as the Avalanche. Around the same time as MacKinnon, four Seattle Kraken players were added to the NHL’s COVID-19 list.
At the time Bettman said COVID was something the league was taking “very seriously”.
“We continue to reinforce the fact that everybody has to remain vigilant, particularly when we have teams travelling the way our teams typically do so we don’t lose sight of this fact,” Bettman said in a statement.
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Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins added Crosby and Brian Dumoulin to the team’s COVID-19 list.
Coach Mike Sullivan said Crosby is dealing with mild symptoms while Dumoulin remains asymptomatic. Crosby’s positive test came less than a week after he made his season debut, missing the opening six games while recovering from left wrist surgery.
With Wednesday’s additions, the Penguins have had eight players test positive for COVID-19.
Teams that have seen COVID cases since the beginning of the season: Pittsburgh Penguins (eight players), Winnipeg Jets (two players), Chicago Blackhawks (five players, two coaches), San Jose Sharks (7 players, 1 coach), Seattle Kraken (four players), Colorado Avalanche (one play, one coach).
COVID in the NFL
Unlike the NHL, the National Football League’s vaccination rate isn’t at 98-99 per cent. The NFL said in September nearly 94 per cent of its players were fully vaccinated.
Recently, the Green Bay Packers have been one of the biggest notes in the NFL for positive COVID-19 tests.
Veteran quarterback Rodgers will join a couple of his teammates on the team’s COVID-19 list.
Reports say that Rodgers, unlike his teammates that have tested positive, isn’t recognized as vaccinated by the NFL. However, the 2011 Super Bowl champion says he is.
“Yeah, I’ve been immunized. You know, there’s a lot of conversation around it, around the league, and a lot of guys who have made statements and not made statements, owners who have made statements. There’s guys on the team that haven’t been vaccinated. I think it’s a personal decision. I’m not going to judge those guys. There are guys that’ve been vaccinated that have contracted COVID. It’s an interesting issue that I think we’re going to see played out the entire season.”
Under the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, unvaccinated players have to get tested daily, and positive test results will force players to be isolated for 10 days, or after two negative tests for vaccinated players.
Also on Wednesday, the New York Giants added their running back coach to their COVID list. The coach is one of 13 members of the team to test positive, and the Giants say all members of their team will be retested.
Only teams without any cases or players listed as close contacts: Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers.
COVID in the NBA
As of the start of October, the NBA had a 95 per cent vaccination rate.
Most notably in the NBA, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving has been at the centre of the NBA’s COVID-19 vaccination discussion.
The Nets have been forced to play without Irving as he reportedly won’t reveal his vaccination status.
Under the league’s vaccine policy, players that aren’t vaccinated will face a lot of restrictions including not being able to travel and more testing, than their vaccinated counterparts.
Due to local requirements in New York City and San Francisco, the Nets, Knicks and Warriors players all have to be fully vaccinated in order to play at home.
COVID-19 is also impacting other sports worldwide.
In Formula One, Veteran Kimi Raikkonen tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to miss two races.
In football in Europe, players have also been forced to miss games following positive COVID-19 tests despite high vaccination rates and strict player protocols.
-With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press
