[M T]

It raises lots of questions.  1) Should athletes be held out of practice and gameplay for 60 days after having COVID, to reduce their risks?  2) Should athletes be kept on COVID boosters even after vaccine mandates expire for everyone else, to reduce their concussion risk?

The questions of "Should" above leaves out the agent that would encourage or set such a policy. The player? The player's physician? The team's medical staff?  The school (or club)?  The organizing body (conference, NCAA, NFL, etc)?  The cognizant health officer (county and/or state public health officer)?   The FDA?  The government (state or federal) by law or regulation? 

Unintended consequences would include further pressure for the athletes to choose to NEVER get tested for Covid.  I already hear it from people I know that "It's just a sore throat.  If it gets worse, then I'll test."

I was pretty certain that one well-known coach sabotaged his subsequent tests after a positive test meant that he wouldn't be allowed to coach for a while. (He claimed a false positive on a test that has a vanishingly small chance of a false positive.)  I can imagine other athletes & coaches would do the same.

We saw that the population in general, and many individuals, want the freedom to damage their health rather than to abide by measures intended to protect them.   (Unfortunately, one person's freedom to avoid such measures impacts the health of many others.)

Perhaps an interesting question might be whether an athlete can give informed consent to play after COVID, giving up the right to sue for (in this case) damage from concussions that might have been related to playing after COVID?


I expect the FDA decision for once-a-year boosters presumed no further effects than already known.  But that's getting increasingly more difficult to determine, I'd think.  Most of the population has had COVID at least once.   If, for instance, after 2023 syndrome X has an incidence of 20% when before 2020 it was just 10%.  Then, could that increase be caused by COVID or other factors (the COVID shutdown, increased screening, etc.)?  (Likewise, the incidence of other syndromes might fall.)

FYI, here in early April, it looks like the flu & RSV have dropped to very low levels, but COVID and HPMV are still going strong (but not at a peak).

[M T]

It raises lots of questions.  1) Should athletes be held out of practice and gameplay for 60 days after having COVID, to reduce their risks?  2) Should athletes be kept on COVID boosters even after vaccine mandates expire for everyone else, to reduce their concussion risk?

The questions of "Should" above leaves out the agent that would encourage or set such a policy. The player? The player's physician? The team's medical staff?  The school (or club)?  The organizing body (conference, NCAA, NFL, etc)?  The cognizant health officer (county and/or state public health officer)?   The FDA?  The government (state or federal) by law or regulation? 

Unintended consequences would include further pressure for the athletes to choose to NEVER get tested for Covid.  I already hear it from people I know that "It's just a sore throat.  If it gets worse, then I'll test."

I was pretty certain that one well-known coach sabotaged his subsequent tests after a positive test meant that he wouldn't be allowed to coach for a while. (He claimed a false positive on a test that has a vanishingly small chance of a false positive.)  I can imagine other athletes & coaches would do the same.

We saw that the population in general, and many individuals, want the freedom to damage their health rather than to abide by measures intended to protect them.   (Unfortunately, one person's freedom to avoid such measures impacts the health of many others.)

Perhaps an interesting question might be whether an athlete can give informed consent to play after COVID, giving up the right to sue for (in this case) damage from concussions that might have been related to playing after COVID?


I expect the FDA decision for once-a-year boosters presumed no further effects than already known.  But that's getting increasingly more difficult to determine, I'd think.  Most of the population has had COVID at least once.   If, for instance, after 2023 syndrome X has an incidence of 20% when before 2020 it was just 10%.  Then, could that increase be caused by COVID or other factors (the COVID shutdown, increased screening, etc.)?  (Likewise, the incidence of other syndromes might fall.)

FYI, here in early April, it looks like the flu & RSV have dropped to very low levels, but COVID and HPMV are still going strong (but not at a peak).