NFL and NFLPA Reportedly Discussing Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccines for Players in 2021

The NFL was able to get through the 2020 season, while the COVID-19 pandemic caused problems all over the world. But with the COVID-19 vaccines starting to become available, will the players have to get them before starting the 2021 season? Peter King of NBC Sports reported that the NFL and NFL Players Association are in talks to determine whether to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory.

"The league and union are discussing whether to try to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for players before the season begins, but I'm dubious that players would agree to such a forced ordinance to be eligible to play in 2021," King wrote in his column. "Talking to some in the know in recent days, a protocol of mandatory vaccinations is not likely. The big reason is it's naïve to think the full body of players will be open to being vaccinated, and it's a fight the league probably won't want to pick with players."

King also wrote that one NFL general manager told him about the league sending a memo to the teams about getting players to take the flu show. The GM told King that only 10 of his players got the shot, which means it will likely be the same scenario for the COVID-19 vaccine. A decision doesn't need to be made right away, as offseason workouts will likely start in May. But if there are not mandatory COVID-19 vaccines, there will likely be COVID-19 protocols for training camp and the preseason.

The regular season for the NFL will start in September, and the hope is COVID-19 cases will continue to go down. In November, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke to Yahoo Sports about getting fans back into NFL stadiums. He said it's likely the stadiums will be packed with fans at the start of the 2021 season.

"Oh, that's possible. I think that's possible," Fauci said. "We're gonna be vaccinating the highest-priority people [from] the end of December through January, February, March. By the time you get to the general public, the people who'll be going to the basketball games, who don't have any underlying conditions, that's gonna be starting the end of April, May, June. So it probably will be well into the end of the summer before you can really feel comfortable [with full sports stadiums] – if a lot of people get vaccinated. I don't think we're going to be that normal in July. I think it probably would be by the end of the summer."