Minnesota Vikings: NFL side bring in epidemiologist to tackle vaccine hesitancy in team
- Published
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said he brought in the epidemiologist to talk to the team as he cares about players' families
The Minnesota Vikings have brought in an infectious disease expert to speak to the team about the Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr Michael Osterholm was invited to speak to the team on Monday, as they sit towards the bottom of the NFL in player vaccinations.
There is a hesitancy among some players to receive the jab, with quarter-back Kirk Cousins the most high profile of those to refuse.
The league has not made it compulsory for athletes to have the jab.
Head coach Mike Zimmer said Dr Osterholm "did a terrific job and hopefully it helps".
"Some of the questions that were asked are things that you hear on the internet and things like that," he added.
"I just care about these players and I care about their families. That's my main reason. If they miss a game because they get Covid, so be it. But I don't want them to get sick, I don't want their families to get sick, their kids to get sick or my grandkids to get sick."
Unvaccinated quarter-back Cousins missed some pre-season training after he was deemed a high-risk close contact.
Despite the players not being obligated to have the vaccine, all teams were informed by the NFL that they would face forfeits if an outbreak occurred among unvaccinated players and that games would not be rescheduled.
During pre-season, Vikings star Cousins missed training time after he was confirmed as a close contact of someone who tested positive.
However, the 33-year-old he said he would rather sit in a team meeting inside a plexiglass cube than have the vaccine.
Dr Michael Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
The NFL has declared that all tier one staff (including team coaches, scouts, equipment managers and team executives) must be fully vaccinated.
There has been an increase in cases and hospitalisations in the US during recent weeks attributed to the more contagious Delta variant.
Just over 52% of the full US population have been fully vaccinated compared to 62% of the UK population.
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