NFL Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills: Asymptomatic People Not Spreading COVID-19

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, 320 players are on the league’s Reserve/COVID-19 list since the beginning of last week.

NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills revealed in an interview on NFL Network that league data shows asymptomatic individuals have not been spreading COVID-19.

“We’ve really not seen this phenomenon that people have discussed, which is asymptomatic people in the facility spreading the virus to others,” Sills said, per ESPN. “As we’ve gone back and looked throughout the entire season, what we’ve seen consistently is that when people have symptoms, that’s when they seem to be contagious to others.

“Our data has been consistent of that throughout the season, and I think it’s particularly true of this new variant, with omicron, of what we’re seeing.”

He added that the league’s new protocols are based on this data, which starkly contrasts what public health authorities have said throughout the pandemic. According to a study published online in early January 2021 by authors from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated to account for more than half of all transmission.” 

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, 320 players are on the league’s Reserve/COVID-19 list since the beginning of last week, a majority having little to no symptoms. On Thursday, 46 players found themselves on the list—all testing positive—Pelissero reported. 

Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, on why he thinks it is safe to do somewhat less testing while the virus surges nationally. pic.twitter.com/pJh51igA40

— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 23, 2021

COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed across the NFL, leading the league to postpone three games last week. The NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to new protocols in response to the outbreak, part of which essentially ends weekly testing for vaccinated players and begins random testing. 

Unvaccinated individuals still have to test daily, but unless selected randomly, vaccinated players will only be required to get tested when they have symptoms. According to Sills, the league is continuing to test over 1,000 people a day across the league under the new protocols. 

Per ESPN, more than 94% of players and almost 100% of coaches are vaccinated.  

“It’s all about symptom recognition and prompt testing,” Sills said, per The Athletic. “If you think about it, someone might have gotten tested on Monday, had no symptoms, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday they develop symptoms and they thought ‘Well, I must be OK because I just tested negative one or two days ago’ and they wouldn’t get tested for a number of days. Now, under the new systems, they’re coming forward and getting tested right away and getting tested the first time they have symptoms, which again, makes everyone around them safer.”