The NBA doesn’t want players to skip the Covid vaccine line, but some should be able to.

By Arthur L. Caplan and Lee H. Igel

As the coronavirus progresses, the availability of COVID-19 vaccines makes many people want to line up for one as soon as possible. Some are willing to do almost anything to jump to the front of the line. Reports of offers of bribes and “donations” are popping up across the country. That’s why the NBA is warning franchises not to do anything to get players and staff vaccinated with the vaccine earlier than others in the population who need it sooner. But given the widespread mistrust of vaccines, could allowing a handful of familiar faces from across the NBA to get their vaccine shots now help with long-term public vaccination efforts?

According to ESPN, a memo sent from NBA headquarters to league teams makes it clear that the league stands firm in adhering to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and public health guidelines for prioritizing vaccinations The panel of medical experts advising the league has found that Pfizer

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and modern “safe and effective” coronavirus vaccines, and teams can anticipate the vaccination of players and staff “in accordance with the timing and prioritization set by applicable public health guidelines.” The only exceptions will be for team medical personnel who are considered essential workers and personnel whose age or health condition puts them at greater risk of complications should they contract the virus.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and league leaders are correct in feeling that it would be unethical if the league’s generally healthy personnel were vaccinated before people in the general public who are most vulnerable to dying from the disease. virus. But in addition to medical personnel and personnel in high-risk categories, the league could also consider allowing other key figures to get their shots sooner rather than later.

Almost 81 million people around the world have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. There are many millions more unconfirmed cases. Most nations still go in and out of different levels of lockdown as their vaccination programs advance. Given its outstanding national and global status, the NBA has an important role to play in those efforts and is well aware of it.

Last March, after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for COVID-19, NBA executives took the step of suspending competition across the league. The decision was the first of its kind in major league professional sports and led others to follow suit. With COVID-19 cases in the few hundred in the U.S. At the time, he also pointed out to much of the public the serious implications of the spread of this virus – a positive test and the potential for spread was leading to a important sports league to close down.

When the pandemic began, there was a severe shortage of tests available in the US Most Americans who showed symptoms of the virus and needed to be tested were unable to do so. But the NBA, among other sports leagues, had the resources to organize private tryouts for entire teams. The interest in keeping his people safe and healthy ended up going down the path of reprimand, with Public expressions of resentment and angry complaints of special treatment.. It was unusual for a company that had been making all the right moves to make a social impact. Later in the year, however, a more typical and positive outcome developed after the NBA partnerships. with BioReference Laboratory and the Yale School of Public Health led to breakthroughs in expanding testing tools for the general public. Still, testing is hard to come by for some hospitals and clinics, leaving access to the NBA and other sports open to debate.

Now, having completed the 2019-2020 season in a bubble setting at Walt Disney World in Orlando and with its new season underway at the team’s home stadiums in the US, the NBA has a wealth of knowledge on what and how. manage when it comes. to things related to COVID. The experience during the pandemic so far, combined with the NBA’s core values ​​and the way it conducts business, explains why Silver is now doing the right thing: making strong statements about the league and its people that don’t jump the line. vaccinations

The players, owners, coaches, and executives of the NBA’s main office are high-profile people. What they say and do draws attention in news reports and on social media. Examples like $ 3.1 Billion in Annual Sales of Air Jordan Apparel Powered by Michael Jordan and the “More Than One Vote” ballot initiative led by LeBron James may be extraordinary cases, but there is little argument that those involved in professional sports are role models in communities of all backgrounds.

The COVID-19 vaccine puts the public on the path to health, safety, and herd immunity. Achieving these goals will require a large percentage of people to get vaccinated. Many of those with the financial means and social connections to get ahead in line are trying to do so, but would better serve themselves and their fellow citizens by waiting for their numbers to increase. Many other people, skeptical of vaccine science and science, will need to be convinced that even standing in line is safe. Awareness will be key. The NBA could help ethically.

One way to do this is to allow a select set of NBA numbers, those identified as particularly attractive to specific segments of the population, to be vaccinated now or in the present when high-risk individuals are vaccinated. It is true that there is a need to prioritize doctors, nurses, front-line healthcare professionals, essential workers, teachers, those who live in institutions, and people with high-risk medical conditions. But it is no less necessary to ensure that they and everyone else understand what needs to be done to make a national vaccination program effective.

Politicians are getting vaccinated now, some of whom do not belong to high-risk groups. Does anyone think they are motivating those who hesitate to vaccinate? But if NBA coaches in risk groups and some NBA superstars gave their enthusiastic support by getting vaccinated or going frequently to places where high-risk people get vaccinated, that could make a real difference.

As more and more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine become available, teams in the NBA and other professional sports leagues will have their turn. Meanwhile, the league reportedly has a vaccine education campaign in the works. The platform can serve to inform populations that are ready to be vaccinated, as well as those who are hesitant to be vaccinated due to concerns about their safety. The way the NBA carries the right message could show that while professional athletes can be low-risk and “nonessential” workers during a pandemic, their support for both fair access to vaccines and the need for vaccination is really important.