NFL Coaches, Staff Must Get COVID Booster Shots by Dec. 27 as Dozens of Players Sidelined

The NFL is mandating that coaches, front-office staff, and team personnel must get a COVID booster by Dec. 27, as 36 players were put on the league's COVID list as of Monday.

All Tier 1 and Tier 2 individuals who have been inoculated fall under the league's requirement. However, players, although they fall under Tier 1, are not required as there are ongoing discussions between the league and the NFL Players Association.

The CDC advises that individuals should get a booster shot if they received a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine six months prior. A person who was inoculated with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot over two months prior should get a booster shot.

"Given the increased prevalence of the virus in our communities, our experts have recommended that we implement the CDC's recommendation," the league wrote in a memo to teams Monday that was acquired by the Associated Press.

Those who are not eligible for a booster according to the CDC definition, are in a 90-day wait after receiving a positive COVID test under league protocols, have obtained monoclonal antibodies within the 90 days prior, and those who have an "S" antibody level on a test given via BioReference Lab at the club facility that's 2500 or higher.

However, those who are currently eligible must receive the booster shot within 14 days of becoming so.

Teams were requested to supply booster shots as soon as possible to eligible tiered staff, and to think about providing them for players, staff families and cohabitants.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll addressed the possibility of players getting complacent about the virus.

"That's it. That's the whole issue worldwide," Carroll said. "People get fatigued from it. We just can't. We can't let that happen. Even though everybody is human and you get worn down by the reminders. It's stressful when you have to be continually reminded and thoughtful of something that you wouldn't normally do. It wears on you, and we try to avoid it. We look for ways to get out of it. That's the conversation we hear all the time, that's the national clamor.

"It is about being diligent. Diligence comes from the constant reminders and the discipline that it takes to stick with it."

Last month, the NFL required players and staff to wear masks inside team facilities regardless of vaccination status for a week, and ordered they be tested twice for COVID-19 after the Thanksgiving holiday. The league's protocols then were updated as a result of increasing rates of COVID-19 across the country. At the time, nearly 95% of NFL players were vaccinated, and almost 100% of NFL personnel were vaccinated.

The league has been conducting genetic sequencing tests on positive cases to determine exact strains of the virus. NFL medical director Allen Sills said in November such testing showed that one club had eight positive cases within a two-week span but each case was unrelated, meaning the individuals were exposed to the virus from someone outside the facility.

"That shows our protocols are working and they're doing what they're designed to do, which is to prevent the virus from spreading in an uncontrolled manner throughout teams," Sills said.

But the more recent numbers are alarming, particularly on Monday.

"Here we go, we're in the last month of the season and we've got a shot to make it through," Carroll said. "I don't know after today what's going to happen, but everybody has to continually be reminded. Stop griping about it. Stop griping about being healthy and helping other people be healthy. I don't get that. That's beyond me.

"It's so far away from personal rights. I don't get it. ... It's constant as anything we've ever been around. We just have to do a good job. I've got to do better. I have to remind guys more."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.