Sources: Many top NBA players hesitant to promote coronavirus vaccines

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...trict-covid-19-protocols-unvaccinated-players

Unvaccinated NBA players will have lockers as far away as possible from their vaccinated teammates and will have to eat, fly and ride buses in different sections as part of the league's anticipated COVID-19 health and safety protocols. The protocols were released to teams Thursday in a memo obtained by ESPN.

The rules are not final and subject to ongoing talks with the National Basketball Players Association, but the guidelines make it clear that vaccinated and unvaccinated players will have very different off-court experiences during the upcoming season.

Unvaccinated players will have to undergo testing on game days and practice days and, depending on team schedules, could have to test twice on some game days. Vaccinated players will not undergo daily testing and will only be tested if they have symptoms themselves or are exposed to someone confirmed as COVID-19 positive.

If an unvaccinated player is deemed a close contact to someone who has tested positive, he will have to enter a mandatory seven-day quarantine. Vaccinated players are not currently anticipated to face quarantine if they are a close contact but don't test positive.

At team meals, the memo calls for unvaccinated players to not sit next to vaccinated teammates and to be at least six feet away from others. The same rules apply for team meetings.

On flights, the memo says unvaccinated players may be required to be in a section of the plane reserved for team staffers, which could mean less-roomy seating. On buses, unvaccinated players would have to sit away from other players or in a separate bus from vaccinated players.

The NBA informed teams last week that all coaches and staff members, in addition to game night staff that work within 15 feet of players or referees, must be fully vaccinated. Also last week, the NBA and the referee's union announced an agreement for all referees to be vaccinated.

Thursday's memo also said the league hopes to secure an agreement with the union that would call for all players to be tested for COVID-19 antibodies as part of the preseason physicals.

Unvaccinated players who have documented recovery from COVID-19 within the previous 60 days may have some of the protocols relaxed, pending final approval.

 

Wow we finally have gone full circle back to segregating basketball players, you know even Adolph Rupp would find this demeaning, disgusting, and a surefire way to let millionaires know, that yes, you are owned by billionaires, now shut up, take the shot, and put the ball in the hoop. This is America people! I went to the draft at barclays for this reason, I knew it would be the last time I would be allowed in such public venues, Segregation is back! Fun times huh?

 

um... this isn't in any way similar to segregation back in the 60's and before. that was segregation by race. this, right now, is "segregation" if u want to call it that way, by whether or not someone is a true idiot or not.

any idiot who isn't getting vaccinated is just further delaying this damn pandemic from ending. it's not like people who are getting vaccines or wearing masks are doing it because they enjoy it.. they just want this to end so that we can all go back to our normal lives.

 

1. You're seriously comparing segregation to this? smh.

2. The NBA isn't forcing any player to take the vaccine.

3. "Millionaires owned by billionaires?" Um, hello? Players are employees that have to follow the rules set by their company. They're under their billionaire bosses who still have to work under the overall governing body that is the NBA. This is nothing new. This is America. A non-democratic government would be far harsher than this.

4. If you're an NBA player and you don't like the rules, then there's literally nothing stopping you from leaving and finding another source of work. Breach your contract, go to a more lax basketball league and play for them. You can show your billionaire bosses that not taking the vaccine > all the money you'd leave on the table, at any point in time. That's the beauty of America.

 

I believe so. Unfortunately this isn’t some type of rudimentary request.

 

Lmao. Yes yes do all this work. But when the whistle blows. By all means be right on top of each other, because ya know that part doesn't count

 

on july 31st the cdc director herself stated that viral load transmission is identical for both vaccinated and unvaccinated with respect to the delta variant. so both groups will be spreading it around just the same anyways

 

Shhhhhh. One thing I've noticed is some people really, really, REALLY don't like you to contradict their views with common sense and hell, even facts.

 

you mean like last year ?

Clippers guard Lou Williams is under scrutiny for appearing to go to a strip club after leaving the NBA 'bubble'
https://www.insider.com/lou-williams-left-nba-bubble-strip-club-reports-2020-7

 

I know one fact, If you are an anti-vaxxer you are a complete dunderhead.

Polio, Covid, you name it. Moronical doesn't begin to describe how insanely idiotic you have to be.

The inability to effectively research is both embarrassing and terrifying.

 

There is a caveat to your statement and that's if they become infected. Vaccines still provide protection against infection with delta. Secondly they are still doing research if the virus being shed in a vaccinated person is as viable as an unvaccinated person.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-...nfections-carry-same-virus-load-unvaccinated/

https://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/files/coro...ction-survey/finalfinalcombinedve20210816.pdf

Spoilered for size, but you will notice the odds of getting infected were all reduced by at least 60% during delta if you received a Pfizer vaccine. Also, it's a bit more difficult to see but the odds of getting infected if you were between 18-35 was SIGNIFICANTLY reduced by over 80% even during delta. This would represent the vast majority of the players in the NBA that are not on the Lakers.

The BNT vaccine is the Pfizer vaccine and the study only went to 14 weeks after the 2nd vaccine shot. Vaccine efficacy would likely still continue to decline, but there is no indication that all efficacy disappears.

Spoiler

 

poliovirus does not exist in animals, that's why it's been possible to eradicate it. coronaviruses are hosted by animals though, so eradication is hopeless. coronaviruses also mutate nonstop so you need to update with a new vaccine shot each season, ie flu shots

but another distinction is that no covid vaccine confers immunity. no pharmaceutical company even attempts to make this claim nor have they have run clinical trials on it. their claims relate to severity of symptoms AFTER you've already been infected. so in this sense, you should actually be labeling people as "anti-therapeutic" instead of "anti-vaxxer."

as it relates to this thread, the players are obviously in close contact on-court. and vaccinated or not, symptomatic or asymptomatic, they are able to transmit covid to others. so if we get another variant, ie. lamba or C.1.2, with a higher mortality rate (able to escape a person's immune response) than what we've been dealing with so far -- it'll be a problem for the season imo

 

i won't have time to read the 2nd link until later tonite. but from the first link... "With Delta, infections occurring following two vaccinations had similar peak viral burden to those in unvaccinated individuals,"

 

The bolded part is simply untrue. I'll let you research memory B and T cell response after vaccination. I posted a recent study relating to it.

You are right about the vaccines needing to be adjusted based on the variant structure. The problem with the current generation of vaccines is that they are designed for the "wild type" covid. Delta has a slightly different spike protein and the manufacturers said they could easily adjust the vaccines, but I'm not too sure why it hasn't already been done.

https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/n...obust-tcell-response-to-mrna-covid19-vaccines

Penn Study Details Robust T-Cell Response to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines—a More Durable Source of Protection
Results underline the importance of a second dose and include implications for booster shots
August 16, 2021

Researchers examined in detail the T-cell responses to mRNA vaccination in 36 healthy people who had no history of COVID-19, and 11 people who had previously recovered from COVID-19.

In the group of participants who did not previously have COVID-19, they found that the first vaccine dose elicited a rapid and strong response from helper T cells called CD4 T cells—some of which help marshal an antibody response, while others stimulate the proliferation of CD8 killer T cells. The strengths of those initial CD4 T cell responses generally predicted the later strengths of antibody and killer T-cell responses. However, the killer T cells tended not to appear in large numbers until after the second vaccine dose—confirming the importance of that second dose for people with no COVID-19 history.

By contrast, in the prior-COVID-19 group, helper and killer T cells specific for the COVID-19 coronavirus were already substantially present before the first dose. After that first dose, T cell numbers rose somewhat, but did not significantly increase after the second dose.

“For people who haven’t had COVID-19, the first dose powerfully primes the pump, and the second dose turns on the whole engine—but having had COVID-19 is like having had that first vaccine dose already,” Wherry said. “It is important to point out, however, that a complete understanding of the relative importance of these T cell responses, compared to antibody, in protection from future infections will require larger clinical studies.”

The results also showed that the T-cell response in the weeks after mRNA vaccination includes T-cell types normally elicited by natural infection—and in general, natural viral infection is known to be capable of inducing T-cell protection that lasts years and even decades.

“We need to do follow-up studies to confirm the longevity of the T-cell response to vaccination, but our results here support the idea that that response can be long-lasting,” Wherry said.

 

Yes and they also had reduced rates of infection. That major aspect should NOT be excluded and needs to be reiterated.

 

Your post is both embarrassing and terrifying.

WEAR YOUR MASK. DO THIS. DO THAT. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT BEING CLOSE TO SOMEONE.

*whistle blows

Ohhh hehehehe don't worry everyone, everything we've said. Every guideline. Every rule. That goes out the window. Don't you know covid doens't exist between these lines right here? heheheh just do everything you'd ever do! Don't be a dummy!

*whistle blows

HOW DARE YOU WALK 1.48 METRES AWAY FROM THAT PERSON WITHOUT A MASK.

Your post is both embarrassing and terrifying.

You know the most embarrassing part for you? The amount of vaccines I've had to have throughout a career in the military. Might be the worst anti-vaxxer you've ever come across.

But ya know, keep your delusional, hysterical and laughable rhetoric because it makes you feel all big and warm and fuzzy inside.

Oops, don't label me a racist now.

 

This guy puts on a bit of a masterclass of data. Granted its just data, and from one guy, and anything from one guy may be biased.
Profile / Twitter

That said, from what I've seen from him and others, is that while vaccination might not independently reduce transmission (not sure on this), that the data shows that form a community perspective, higher vaccination rate clearly results in lower delta spread. There could be other factors at play.

But that's really for another thread. What we have here is nothing to do with segregation or anything other than a business looking to protect its economic interest. Whether they are doing so in the right way or not, tbd. But certainly the NBA as an organization has "been through the ringer" in their attempts to play games over the last 2 years, so their decision shouldn't be all that surprising or controversial.

I don't know if I love it, but I get it.

That statement alone though doesn't result in vaccinations not reducing COVID spread. Peak viral load in what %, for how long, etc. All I can say with certainty is that it seems in countries with higher vaccination rates (though, probably likely also more npi's) haven't been hit as hard by covid.