NCAA Releases Updated COVID-19 Protocols Ahead of 2021 College Football Season

The NCAA released new COVID-19 guidelines ahead of the fall sports season. It includes procedure regarding those with the highest rates of exposure but is subject to change as more date continues to emerge.

The NCAA announced new COVID-19 guidelines for fall sports Wednesday. The protocols outline guidance concerning differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

New #COVID19 guidance for fall sports released: https://t.co/fSoTz5iWCG pic.twitter.com/BqGBL4TAIS

— NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) August 4, 2021

According to the release, there will be testing, quarantine, isolation, and other athletic and nonathletic activity considerations for unvaccinated and fully vaccinated Tier 1 individuals.

A Tier 1 individual is described as someone with the highest rates of exposure, whether it be student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, medical staff, equipment staff or officials

"Current vaccination rates remain inadequate to provide community-level immunity," NCAA Chief Medical Officer Brian Hainline said in the release. "It is essential that member schools work in concert with federal, state and local public health officials to develop COVID-19 prevention and management strategies that make sense for them."

The NCAA is taking caution against the emerging delta variant of COVID-19. Evidence suggests that fully vaccinated individuals can become infected by the variant and spread the virus to others even when asymptomatic, according to the release.

The release notes that vaccinated individuals have considerable protection from hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19, including the delta variant. However, college sports will continue to adapt to new data that surfaces throughout the fall sports season. 

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