Report: NBA Sets Deadline for Players to Receive COVID-19 Booster Vaccine

If players don't receive their booster by Dec. 17, they will be subject to gameday testing.

The NBA announced that players who have not received their booster COVID-19 vaccine will be subject to gameday testing beginning on Dec. 17, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. 

In addition, team personnel who have yet to receive their boosters are no longer permitted to interact with players or continue as Tier 1 employees, per Charania. Tier 1 employees include coaches, referees and anyone working within 15 feet of players on a regular basis.

These additional rules come three months after the league issued its COVID-19 protocols for unvaccinated players ahead of the 2021-22 season. 

In September, the league announced that players who were vaccinated would have much more relaxed restrictions, which also applied to Tier 1 employees.

Unvaccinated players would undergo daily testing before entering a team facility, engaging in team-organized activities or interacting with players and Tier 1 personnel. They are also subject to lab-based testing on game days. 

Unvaccinated players are also not allowed to dine indoors with other players, must maintain six feet of separation from any other person, must wear a mask at all times, must have a locker that is distant from other players and one that cannot be next to another non-fully-vaccinated player.

About 90% of NBA players were fully vaccinated in September, according to Charania.