Washington among four NFL teams under 50% COVID vaccination rate

The Washington Football Team is one of four NFL teams to have less than 50% of its players fully vaccinated, according to Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press. The Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers are the other four teams.

Source confirmed that the Washington Football Team's player vaccination rate is still less than 50% (1st by @RobMaaddi).

Coach Ron Rivera said in early June, during minicamp, that all coaches and football employees were vaccinated but players were "nearing 50 percent."

— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) July 16, 2021

Washington head coach Ron Rivera had hoped to have his team be closer to the NFL’s threshold of 85% vaccinated players in order to have relax COVID-19 protocols. The team went as far in bringing in expert Harvard immunologist Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett during minicamp to educate the players benefits and concerns of getting the vaccination.

However, one player, defensive end Montez Sweat, voiced his frustration about the team’s approach.

Rivera revealed in June all of Washington’s coaches and staff had been vaccinated.

In 2020, Washington was a success story as the team had just two COVID-19 cases from the start of training camp through the season. Tight end Logan Thomas tested positive for the coronavirus at the start of training camp. Defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis tested positive in October while on injured reserve.

It’s also surprising given the fact that Washington was one of the teams last year with the fewest COVID cases. Some of that may be luck, but they also followed strict protocols. Protocols can ease with vaccine. https://t.co/CXKHmXCeEt

— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) July 16, 2021

Going into the 2021, the NFL is not requiring players be vaccinated. However, the league sent out a memo listing a number of restrictions for players not vaccinated.

Unvaccinated players must continue to get daily testing, wear masks and practice physical distancing. They won’t be allowed to eat meals with teammates, can’t participate in media or marketing activities while traveling, aren’t permitted to use the sauna or steam room and may not leave the team hotel or interact with people outside the team while traveling. Vaccinated players will not have any of those restrictions.

Additionally, non-vaccinated players will also be subjected to quarantine in cases of close contact tracing. Meanwhile, fully vaccinated players won’t face any of those restrictions. They will be required to COVID testing every 14 days.

The league requires all Tier 1 and Tier 2 personnel, including coaches and administrative staff be vaccinated ahead of training camp.

The NFL does not plan to cancel games this season, which could prevent a competitive disadvantage for teams not meeting the league’s 85% threshold of vaccination.