One of the biggest struggles the United States has had when it comes to fighting COVID-19 is the lack of trust in the vaccine amongst large portions of the population. The country's vaccination rates have dropped significantly over the past few months and other countries are already surpassing the States when it comes to percentages of the population that are inoculated. This is bad news for the country as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, all while hospitalizations spike as well.
Sports leagues around the country have been trying to get a stranglehold on COVID-19, including the NFL who has implemented some strict guidelines for next year. In fact, the NFL Alumni Association has now linked up with the CDC, who is tasking them with promoting the vaccine to players and the broader community.
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According to TMZ, the CDC is paying the association a whopping $3.5 million to do so, and they have high hopes that the Alumni Association's work can spread positivity in the community.
"The [CDC] intends to award a sole source firm fixed price purchase order to The NFL Alumni Association (NFLA)," the CDC wrote in a notice of intent. "The overall purpose of this contract is to facilitate collaboration among NFL Alumni and federal state and local public health officials as well as other local leaders to address vaccine hesitancy through communication and engagement with communities less likely to get vaccinated."
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The president of the Association is former Giants player Bart Oates who is fully on board with the new effort. The NFL is very serious about getting people vaccinated, and it seems as though the Alumni Association is even more committed to that goal. Only time will tell whether or not these efforts make a significant impact.
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