The NFL will not mandate COVID-19 vaccines. Thus, it stands to reason, even with incentives offered to teams and players who are vaccinated, some players aren’t going to get a shot.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen could be one of those. In an appearance on The Ringer’s “10 Questions With Kyle Brandt” podcast, Allen said he has not had a vaccine and might not get one.
“I’m still debating that,” Allen said, via Matt Parrino of nyup.com. “I’m a big statistics and logical guy. So, if statistics show it’s the right thing for me to do, I’d do it. Again, I’d lean the other way, too, if that’s what it said. I haven’t been paying attention to it as much as maybe I should have. I’ve just been doing my thing and masking up when I’m going out and just staying close and hanging around family.”
It is unclear what statistics Allen needs to see to convince him to get a shot. The Pfizer vaccine was shown a 95 percent efficacy rate in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, just 1 percentage point more than Moderna’s. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine was shown to have a 72 percent efficacy rate in the United States in preventing symptomatic illness and an 85 percent efficacy rate in preventing the most severe disease 28 days after vaccination.
Allen, 24, made clear he’s against any kind of mandate.
“I think everybody should have that choice to do it or not to do it,” Allen said. “You get in this tricky situation now where if you do mandate that that’s kind of going against what our constitution says and the freedom to kind of express yourself one way or the other. I think we’re in a time where that’s getting a lot harder to do. Everybody should have that choice.”
However, the league expects to amend certain protocols for those who are vaccinated and for teams as a whole if certain vaccination levels are met, which will encourage (pressure?) players to get a COVID-19 shot.
Originally Posted by OKchiefs:
The harm is we will never reach herd immunity if enough selfish shitstains abstain from taking the vaccine. We're already seeing the UK variant become the predominant strain in America. More and more variants are possible as long as there is a large enough group of hosts for the virus to spread, replicate, and evolve. We are going to remain in a perpetual state of waiting for the next surge of cases as long as enough people hold out on getting the vaccine. You want masks and travel restrictions to go away? Take the ****ing vaccine.
And people can :-) about this vaccine being rushed. You think the FDA/CDC were the only ones to approve such vaccines? The EU, UK, and countless other government and scientific agencies around the world have approved these vaccines as well. You're talking literally tens of thousands of scientists around the world who have put countless hours into researching the vaccines, their effectiveness, and their safety. Dozens of countries with their own mechanisms for authorizing new treatments have come to the same conclusion, that the vaccines are safe and the benefits far outweigh any risk.
We're already 6 months in with Pfizer and Moderna and the side effects have been negligible. Sure, side effects exist. Side effects also exist for just about every medication you get prescribed by your doctors, some of them fatal. When is the point at which you numbskulls will finally say they have enough data and won't worry about the emergency use authorization? Is it at one year? Is it at two years? When?
The longer you wait the longer you're helping to prolong the pandemic, and the end result will be you having waited for no reason. Absolutely nothing will change from now until the traditional timeline when vaccines are normally approved. Some new symptoms aren't going to magically start popping up a year into people having been vaccinated that didn't appear 6-months in.
Originally Posted by BigBeauford:
I'm not going to gamble my daughter's life on surviving something PROVEN to be fatal and communicable vs. something that is much safer.
Well then you know the risks and know what you need to do to not gamble.
And while you have your right to be concerned, there is no science at this time that shows asthma creates a larger risk to children when it comes to covid.
Originally Posted by Marcellus:
Well then you know the risks and know what you need to do to not gamble.
And while you have your right to be concerned, there is no science at this time that shows asthma creates a larger risk to children when it comes to covid.