The Next Civil War- The NBA’s Vaccine Problem
Conspiracy theories in the locker room. Stars trying to avoid the shot.
Neuro Athletes,
Given your interest in the science of performance and sport, you’ve probably heard that Michael Jordan is supporting the NBA’s vaccine plan. A couple of new indoor vaccine mandates have begun to disrupt the upcoming hoops season before its start.
In a recent interview with Craig Melvin on NBC's Today, the NBA legend discussed the league's COVID-19 protocols:
"I am total in unison with the league. And I think everybody, you know, has been speaking about the vaccinations. And, you know, I'm a firm believer in science and, you know, I'm going to stick with that and hopefully everybody abides by whatever the league sets the rules. I think once everybody buys in, we're going to be fine."
The new NBA season starts on October 19, and the build-up has been dominated by furore surrounding the vaccine, with Brooklyn Nets’ guard Kyrie Irving one high profile star to opt out of getting jabbed.
The regulations stop short of making the vaccine mandatory in order for individuals to be eligible for games, but referees and other staff who have close contact with the players are required to be fully vaccinated.
However, league officials, who have stated 90% of players have taken at least one vaccine – have forced unvaccinated players to comply with a stringent list of restrictions to be involved in games and even team practice.
The problem?
Neither Kyrie nor the Nets seem to have a plan.
The Dilemma
Injuries throw teams out of whack all the time, but the obstacles Irving’s decision presented Brooklyn with brought an unprecedented set of questions with them.
Does Steve Nash run two separate practices to account for the two versions of the team he’ll have to coach? How do you set rotations? Would certain players have any problem having their responsibilities and expectations drastically shift from night to night?
Which NBA players are vaccinated against COVID-19?
Lebron James
“I know that I was very skeptical about it all, but after doing my research, I felt like it was best suited for not only me, but my family and for my friends. That's why I decided to do it,” James said, adding that he will not comment on or get involved in other players’ decisions. “You guys know me, anything I talk about, I don't talk about other people and what they should do. I speak for me and my family.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo
"I did what was best for me and my family to stay protected," Antetokounmpo said. "... For me, I put everything down and I feel it was the best decision for me to be safe with my kids."
Enes Kanter
“If a guy’s not getting vaccinated because of his religion, I feel like we are in a time where the religion and science has to go to together”.
“If you’re a player and you’re not vaccinated and you miss a week or two weeks,” Kanter says, “it could literally change the whole season — and we’re trying to win a championship!”
In addition to players, all referees and key team personnel will be required to have received their vaccines by the season’s start on Oct. 19. Just this week, ESPN reported that vaccinated NBA staffers are upset players aren’t facing the same vaccine requirements, citing concerns about health risks of being exposed to players who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19.
Which NBA players are not vaccinated against COVID-19?
Kyrie Irving
If Kyrie Irving is restricted to playing in Nets’ away games only, he will lose more than $400,000 per game this season. That’s a $17 million pay cut. Of course, no money is more important than the sanctity of one’s body. The real offense with the league’s vaccination dilemma is a microcosm of the divisiveness caused by society’s line in the sand of Covid-19.
Even without him, the Nets are in good position to compete for an NBA championship. After all, they already have two other franchise cornerstone players in Kevin Durant and James Harden.
The good news?
He’s not an ‘anti-vaxer’, apparently.
The Nets guard reportedly is 'upset' about individuals losing their jobs because of vaccine mandates. Shams Charania writes, "To him, this is about a grander fight than the one on the court and Irving is challenging a perceived control of society and people’s livelihood, according to sources with knowledge of Irving’s mindset."
Bradley Beal
Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal is also not vaccinated against COVID-19, citing personal reasons to reporters during the team’s media day.
“I would like an explanation to people with vaccines, why are they still getting COVID?” Beal questioned. “If that’s something we’re supposed to highly be protected from, that’s funny that it only reduces your chances of going to the hospital. It doesn’t eliminate anyone from getting COVID.”
Myths & COVID-19
Is Spike Protein From Vaccines Dangerous? ❌
The spike protein is located on the outside of a coronavirus and is the entry point for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to get into our cells. Its location on the outside of the virus makes it so the immune system can recognize it easily. For COVID-19 vaccines, all of the approved vaccines so far used the spike protein.
The spike protein is unique to SARS-CoV-2 – it doesn't look like other proteins your body makes. So antibodies created against the spike protein won't harm your body, they will only target coronavirus.
Will mRNA Vaccines Alter DNA? ❌
It is normal to feel concerned if you haven’t heard of mRNA technology however it’s important to understand the sequence of the messenger RNA inside of a lipid nanoparticle.
The manufacturing ability of our cells extends beyond human proteins. When we are infected with a virus - including relatively harmless viruses like those that cause the common cold - these invaders inject their genetic material into our cells, resulting in pieces of mRNA encoding viral proteins being sent to our protein-making machinery. Doing so enables the virus to assemble new viral particles out of these proteins, and spread. Although mRNA vaccines are a relatively new technology, they are based on the same ancient premise: delivering mRNA into our cells, which they will use to manufacture a viral protein.
Some viruses like HIV can integrate their genetic material into the DNA of their hosts, but this isn’t true of all viruses, and HIV can only do so with the help of specialised enzymes that it carries with it. MRNA vaccines don’t carry these enzymes, so there is no risk of the genetic material they contain altering our DNA.
Do Vaccines prevent Delta Transmission? ❌
I think it's a very good question because all of the things that we have learned about COVID-19 in the past is now being rewritten by the Delta variant. The majority of Covid-19 cases are now coming from vaccinated people in several parts of the world with high vaccination rates. Even though the Covid-19 vaccines still work, it is now a pandemic of both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
Is the Delta variant to blame?
Six studies suggest vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca work against the Delta variant, to varying degrees. Here’s what the data shows.
Here is an informative slide from the JAIC report that details the vaccine breakthrough cases (blue wording) and vaccine effectiveness (in the box):
UK study: Pfizer 88% effective, AstraZeneca 67%
A UK-based study from May, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 21, found that two doses of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer’s vaccine were highly effective against the Delta variant, from two weeks after the second dose.
Canadian study: Pfizer 87% effective after two doses, Moderna 72% after one dose
A Canadian study posted on Saturday, July 3, found that two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine worked as well against Delta as they did against the Alpha variant, which was previously dominant in the US.
The study hasn’t been scrutinized by experts in a peer-review.
Israel study: Pfizer 64% effective after two doses
The Israel Ministry of Health said on Monday, July 6, that Pfizer’s vaccine worked slightly less well against the Delta variant than previous estimates. The number of people who got infected during the study period was small, and the figure may have included asymptomatic infections.
Scotland study: Pfizer 79% effective after two doses, 60% for AstraZeneca.
A Scotland-based study published as a letter to the Lancet medical journal on June 14 found that Pfizer’s vaccine offered “very good” protection against the Delta variant.
Studies that cover asymptomatic infections
Two real-world studies have looked at vaccine effectiveness against all COVID-19 infections, including those that didn’t cause symptoms.
Qatar study: Pfizer 53.5% effective after two doses, 84.8% for Moderna
A Qatari study posted on August 11 looked at vaccine effectiveness against any infection, including asymptomatic infections. It hasn’t been scrutinized by experts in a peer-review.
UK study: Pfizer 80% effective after two doses, 67% for AstraZeneca
A UK-based study posted on August 24 examined vaccine effectiveness against any COVID-19 infection, including asymptomatic illness. It hasn’t been formally scrutinized by other experts.
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Let’s hope it doesn’t escalate to this point! It’ll be very interesting to see how this plays out.