Inside The Huskies

UW Will Require Vaccination or Testing Proof for Final 5 Games

Pandemic surge forces college and pro teams throughout Seattle to enact protocols.

Dan Raley

UW Will Require Vaccination or Testing Proof for Final 5 Games
UW Will Require Vaccination or Testing Proof for Final 5 Games /

To attend the final five college football games this season at Husky Stadium, the University of Washington will require fans to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the game, plus it will enforce mask-wearing at all events going forward.

The school made this announcement on Tuesday and will put all of these protocols into place for the September 25 home football game against California. 

Husky Stadium had a lot of empty seats at kickoff.
Husky Stadium had a lot of empty seats at kickoff for the Montana game.  / Dan Raley

Before that happens, the Huskies will play at home on September 18 against Arkansas State, a game in which only mask-wearing will be mandatory for all spectators. At that football event, fans can have their vaccine verification pre-approved for the rest of the season. The UW also will offer pop-up sites that provide vaccines for fans in need of them.

Similarly, the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Mariners and Seattle Kraken professional teams each have implemented varying procedures related to the ongoing global health crisis, with mask-wearing now mandated by Washington state for all large gatherings of 500 people or more. 

In fall camp, the UW football team was 90 percent vaccinated, according to coach Jimmy Lake, but once school begins at the end of the month all players will have to received the shots to attend classes and compete on the football team. 

This past Saturday for the football season opener against Montana, Husky Stadium welcomed fans for the first time in nearly two years, but the facility noticeably was only two-thirds full — an occurrence that rarely happens no matter who the opponent is.

It was clear that countless UW fans stayed away from the large gathering of people out of caution or fear over the nationwide spike in COVID-19 infections. Masks weren't required at that game, and more people went without them than wore them.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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