Surging delta variant could impact FAMU's return to football and first season in the SWAC

With college football just over a month away, teams are busy preparing and fans are getting excited. However, there are still a few questions about how conferences and schools are handling the rising number of new COVID-19 cases.

  

Commissioner implores teams to get vaccinated

While SWAC Commissioner Charles McClelland, stopped short of mandating that student athletes get vaccinated, he didn't mince any words during the SWAC Media Day events last month as he implored teams and athletic staff to GET VACCINATED!!!  “We have established our COVID protocols going into the fall and it's quite simple — you must get vaccinated.  If you are a vaccinated student-athlete or coach all of the protocols have been taken off, " McClelland said.

“Unvaccinated players and coaches will face the same coronavirus protocols as the spring season,” he added. Those individuals will be COVID tested three times a week and tested on gamedays. Individuals considered close contacts after contact tracing face a mandatory 14-day quarantine. 

"I urge all student-athletes to get vaccinated because if you're not you're not going to be able to finish the season based upon these protocols," McClelland said. "And there is somebody waiting to take your spot."

McClelland added that the conference was going "all the way up to the line" to say athletes and coaches must get vaccinated without mandating it. 

McClelland warned, that programs that cancel games due to COVID-related roster issues will receive a forfeiture and a possible fine depending on the circumstances. It’s yet another incentive to get athletes to get the shot.

"I can 100% guarantee if you're not vaccinated you're not going to be able to complete this season," McClelland said. "It's going to be a detriment to your team... Get vaccinated so we can get through this season." 

COVID-19 cases this week have jumped 145% from two weeks ago. At least 80% of the cases are infected with the delta variant.
 
The fans
The SWAC is home to four of the five least vaccinated states in America, Alabama (34.25%), Mississippi (34.3%), Arkansas (36.2%), and Louisiana (36.7%).  And, then there is Florida, currently the new COVID pandemic epicenter of the US.
 
Even if athletes and staff get vaccinated, as of this writing, most in their communities are not.  The low vaccination rates among citizens in these states has stirred fears that college game days will transform into super spreader events.  With unvaccinated fans traveling city-to-city and across state lines. 

Then there is the CDC's recent announcement of the increased risk of infection and transmission among individuals that are fully vaccinated.  "High viral loads suggest an increased risk of transmission and raised concern that, unlike with other variants, vaccinated people with Delta can transmit the virus," said CDC director Rochelle Walensky.

There is good news, COVID-19 vaccines are widely available, they’ve proven to be highly effective and people who are fully vaccinated don't face serious health challenges or require hospital stays.  "We all have the ability to avoid serious health risks, reduce the virus’ spread, and maximize our chances of returning to a normal college football experience and to normal life,” McClelland said. “It’s not a political football and we need to do our part to support a healthy society.”
 
In total,139 college football games were either postponed or cancelled due to COVID over the fall 2020/ spring 2021 season.
 
SIAC only conference to mandate vaccinations 
While no FBS conferences have said they will mandate player vaccinations, one Division II conference announced that it will — the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference said all players and coaches must be vaccinated along with officials, band members and cheerleaders. 

The league did say that players with medical or religious reasons for not being vaccinated will be given exemptions but have to undergo regular COVID-19 testing.

“Within the context of rising COVID-19 infection rates, student-athletes are a particularly vulnerable stakeholder group who, as a result of their athletic participation, are required to travel off-campus and compete against and interact with student-athletes on other campuses,” SIAC Commissioner Gregory Moore said in a statement. “The SIAC policy decision establishing vaccination as prerequisite to intercollegiate athletic competition participation is guided by the overarching interest to protect the health and safety of SIAC student-athletes and was decided in the light of overwhelming data and evidence which has demonstrated the effectiveness of authorized COVID-19 vaccines combating coronavirus as well as its delta variant.”

With the start of the 2021 football season just about 33 days away, Anthony Fauci, MD, the nation's foremost infectious disease specialist, has warned that "things (the virus) will likely get worse, before they get better" the prospects for a return to normalcy at this point look pretty bleak.

Update (8/2/21 - 9pm):  The delta variant has done something that most health experts couldn't do --- spurred the unvaccinated to get to vaccinated. In recent days, Louisiana has seen a 302 percent increase in the average number of newly vaccinated per day. Mississippi, 250 percent. Alabama, 215 percent, and Arkansas, 206 percent. 

This increase in vaccination rates in states that have been lagging is a positive trend. Americans are seeing the risk and impact of being unvaccinated, and responding with action.