Unvaccinated athletes face travel restrictions

On Aug. 4, CSB/SJU decided to make the COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all students, staff and faculty.

Despite this requirement, some students have yet to be vaccinated. Currently, 88% of students are vaccinated, leaving 12% of students unvaccinated.

Of those students, 89.7% of St. John’s athletes are vaccinated, and just over 94% of St. Ben’s athletes are vaccinated, as of Sept. 20.

While there are still masking policies in place, unvaccinated students, as well as students who have only received one dose of the vaccine, must undergo weekly testing and remain on campus to prevent the contraction and spread of the virus.

This especially becomes an issue for unvaccinated athletes, as they would not be able to travel with their teams to off-campus competitions.

“Unvaccinated athletes have to take COVID tests each week to allow them to play and participate in practices,” St. John’s Athletic Director Bob Alpers said.

Like everyone else, unvaccinated athletes have to wear masks when traveling.

However, “unvaccinated individuals who leave the state by air have a ten day quarantine period when they return,” and “they can’t test out of quarantine,” Alpers said. This implies that athletes would not be able to attend class or practice in person.

“There could be major implications for post-season competition, especially if the competition is out of state and we have to fly,” Alpers said.

This especially applies to any play off tournaments or national competitions.

Aside from the regulations of the institution, state regulations and mandates may hinder unvaccinated athlete participation as well.

One of CSB’s athletic teams faced a similar issue earlier this season when they were scheduled to fly to Chicago for a tournament.

“Twenty-four hours prior to departure, Chicago issued a vaccine requirement for all visitors to the city…unvaccinated athletes had to stay back on campus and miss the [UChicago] trip. Looking ahead, other teams will face restrictions from the host city or even the venue they would train or compete in,” head CSB Athletic Director Erin Ross said.

If an unvaccinated athlete does get to participate, it’s hard to deny the consequences that follow. “Missing ten days during the season can be difficult to overcome,” Alpers said.

“You would have to likely miss four practices and two games,” sophomore volleyball player Payton Marker said. “I would be most concerned about falling behind, as well as missing out on fun experiences and bonding that happens at practices and games,”

Aside from the consequences of missing class or practice, “A coach may decide to not travel with an unvaccinated athlete to minimize the risk of exposing that individual to the rest of the team while riding in closer contact on a bus or sharing a hotel room, for example,” Ross said.

“I am not very concerned about vaccination rate because most of our team is vaccinated,” Marker said. This seems to be true for many athletes, and vaccination rates are expected to increase as the school year goes on.

“We should be at over 93% within a couple of weeks,” Alpers estimated.

“Several of our teams are actually 100% vaccinated, which is thrilling to me,” Ross said.