Last week, the NCAA published guidelines that outline their COVID-19 guidelines. The NCAA made a statement in those guidelines that was understood by most Americans: Natural immunity can be used to protect against COVID-19.
The NCAA included a list of factors it considered would classify someone as “fully vaccinated,” which included if people had taken one of the COVID vaccines or if they had gotten booster shots within a specific time period. The NCAA stated that the following criteria were used to determine whether someone is “fully vaccinated.”
“A person who has had a documented COVID-19 infection in the past 90 days is considered the equivalent of ‘fully vaccinated.’”
People are finally realizing that the coronavirus vaccine is not necessary to protect you. Those who don’t take it do not have to be punished or excluded.
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In addition to admitting that natural immunity is just as effective in helping someone combat COVID-19, the NCAA is relaxing its rules on how long someone would have to quarantine after contracting the virus, only making mask-wearing a “consideration” and not a mandate, and overall taking a lot of positive steps towards completely renewing a sense of normalcy.
College athletes have suffered some of the worst setbacks due to having to compete in an COVID-crazed environment for the last two years. This win is huge. Seasons have been canceled, opportunities to boost their draft stock for the pros lost, and lives radically altered in an effort to “keep the kids safe.” The isolation and loneliness these athletes experienced in that time as devastating, but it would seem that the NCAA is realizing that enough is enough and that how they operate needs to change.
There is much more work to do to bring the NCAA sports environment back to its former glory days before COVID. However, this is an important step forward.
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