Meyer Says Jaguars Will 'Adapt' As NFL Requires Coaches To Be Fully Vaccinated
The Jacksonville Jaguars' coaching staff must continue to adapt to protocols and restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest set of rules require all coaches to be fully vaccinated in order to interact with players.
According to NFL Network, a memo sent to coaches and staff of all 32 teams back in April stated all coaches and trainers must be vaccinated unless they possessed a legitimate medical or religious reason to not take the shot. Failure to cooperate would result in coaches losing Tier 1 or 2 status and they would not be permitted access to the 'football only' restricted area or work directly or in close proximity with players.
The new restrictions went into effect on Monday of this week, June 7. As of last week, June 4, coaches from at least four teams were set to lose their Tier 1 status for refusing to take the vaccine, as reported by Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.
“I don’t know exactly where we’re at, I’ll find out shortly. But we’ll adapt with whatever we have to,” Meyer told reporters on Tuesday, in relation to the Jags staff and being fully vaccinated.
Moving forward, those that are fully vaccinated are permitted to access all restricted areas of the facility and don’t have to wear a mask, according to the NFL. Those in the process of being fully vaccinated are permitted access to the practice field and other restricted areas—while wearing a mask—except for the athletic training room, weight room, players locker room or cafeteria if players are present in the previous four places. They are also not allowed to be in in-person meetings or travel with the team.
Those who are non-vaccinated and have an approved religious or medical exemption face the same aforementioned restrictions as those in the process of becoming fully vaccinated.
Those who aren’t vaccinated and have no approved exception are not permitted to access any restricted while players are present or permitted to interact with players in person.
Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, told clubs in May that in order to be fully vaccinated by the start of training camp in late July, coaches, players and staffs receiving the two dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccine would need to receive their shot no later than this week (week of June 7).
These protocols put the onus on coaches to get vaccinated but also clubs to push their coaches to do so.
“We have a couple that—many of them came out and got the vaccine, it just takes a while to get fully vaccinated. Whether it’s the one-shot, I believe it’s a two-week [period] and the two-shot takes a while,” Meyer further explained on Tuesday, indicating a couple of coaches are still in the process of being fully vaccinated.
The Center for Disease Control says it takes two weeks after the second shot (or two weeks after the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine) to be considered fully vaccinated. According to the White House, 63% of American adults have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 52% of those are fully vaccinated.
Based on CDC data, as of June 7, in the state of Florida, the number of fully vaccinated residents is 40.31% of the population.
