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As evidenced by the number of players wearing masks on the sidelines in Saturday night’s loss to the Colts, the Vikings still have plenty of players who weren’t vaccinated. The Vikings will make another attempt to change their mind on Monday.
Via NFL Media, epidemiologist and infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm will speak to the team on Monday.
The question of reluctance to be vaccinated among Vikings players had been silenced in recent days. Peter King described the situation on Monday’s Football Morning in America as a “comatose problem.” Today’s session might wake him up again.
“I went pretty hard there for a while with our quarterback [Kirk Cousins], and a bunch of other guys, great players, who aren’t vaccinated, ”coach Mike Zimmer said, per King. “I said my song. They have sunken heels. I think it would have shown them what could happen when we had a quarterback for practice and we had to bring in two guys from the streets. But they are not going to change. I just said the devil with that. I’m done talking about it.
This is what makes the decision to bring in an expert to talk about the situation so startling. The cousins will not change their mind. Others are unlikely to change their mind. Even though not being vaccinated means: (1) daily tests; and (2) a minimum absence of 10 days if a player is positive.
Cornerback Patrick Peterson tried to make his new teammates understand the obvious link between vaccination and availability. In vain. Which means the Vikings will be at constant risk of losing one or more key players before a game that could turn out to be a loss without them. And it’s a loss that can tip the scales away from a playoff spot.
Another argument that Zimmer, Peterson, and others can now make is this: FDA approval has officially arrived for the Pfizer vaccine. Of course, those who have been hiding behind the lack of FDA approval will undoubtedly move on to another topic of discussion, or perhaps just claim (without any evidence) that the FDA approval process has. been rigged somehow.
Finally, any unvaccinated Vikings or other team players should realize that after the next preseason game a mini-bye is coming. Vaccinated players can leave town. Unvaccinated players cannot. Between Dr Osterholm’s comments and the FDA approval and the chance to take advantage of the week off that replaces what was the fourth game of the regular season, maybe a few guys will finally realize it’s time to doing the right thing for themselves, their teams and society.
No matter how many have this epiphany, it won’t be enough.
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