Why the NFL Wants Its Personnel to Get Covid Tests—Even When They’re Vaccinated

Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel woke up one August morning feeling mostly fine, but just a little bit off. His throat was sore, and his ear ached. It could have easily been explained by a long summer day at training camp barking at players. Yet when Vrabel arrived at the team facility that morning, he asked for a coronavirus test. Vrabel, who is vaccinated against Covid-19, waited in his car until the result came back. It was positive. So was a follow-up test. And so instead of possibly exposing colleagues and players, he was placed into isolation. It was a model response for an organization like the NFL—or for anybody trying to conduct business as usual—in the age of vaccines. As mass mandatory testing recedes as a containment strategy, monitoring symptoms and voluntary testing is now a front line of defense.