The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed to changes to health and safety protocols that provide comprehensive benefits for those fully vaccinated, according to a memo sent to teams Wednesday night and reviewed by ESPN.
In particular, the protocol changes will apply to everyone “two weeks after their last dose and any team where 85% of players and 85% of staff have been fully vaccinated,” the memo reads.
Fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to be quarantined after exposure to COVID-19You can let friends, family and others visit at home and on tour without having to try or register the material. and you can dine outdoors in restaurants, among other relaxed restrictions.
Fully vaccinated teams no longer need to wear masks in training facilities; have more flexibility to leave the team hotel on tours and can dine indoors or outdoors in restaurants, among other relaxing restrictions.
Here’s the infographic distributed to NBA teams detailing the eased restrictions for vaccinated individuals and vaccinated teams: https://t.co/uSuMVkP4cR pic.twitter.com/7uOY4ugjUg
– Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) March 18, 2021
These benefits follow recent guidelines announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for those who are fully vaccinated. One of the guidelines announced by the CDC was that fully vaccinated people can gather indoors without wearing a mask.
A Western Conference athletics coach, echoing others in the league’s health circles, said there is hope the new benefits will serve as a motivational factor for those who may be considering getting vaccinated. But that chief athletic trainer also called for caution, saying that just because someone has been vaccinated they will still have to act responsibly and that the daily COVID-19 tests are expected to remain part of the NBA routine.
It’s not clear yet how many people in the League have been vaccinated, but League sources have said that several team officials, coaches, and other qualified team personnel in the specific states in which their teams reside have received at least your first dose.
ESPN reported Sunday that dozens of eligible members of the New Orleans Pelicans, including several players, received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine after the Louisiana governor became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
As for players outside of the Pelicans, league sources said that so far only a small number of players have received a dose of the vaccine, and those who have received it have pre-existing conditions.