Clay: Data On Natural Immunity Is The Key To A Successful Return To Sports
College football is back; NFL returns in over a week; the NBA is only a month away.
Sports are quickly returning, but the solution for COVID via vaccination rates, implemented by leagues, remains about as trustworthy as a free throw from Shaq.
OutKick's Clay Travis spoke about the misguided COVID protocols in sports leagues after the NBA announced that venues in certain cities will require proof of vaccination for players to participate, per their home county's indoor guidelines.
With New York City and San Francisco demanding that its citizens take the vaccine, unvaccinated athletes are in danger of ineligibility in the upcoming season. Clay addresses the importance of validating athletes who have recovered from the illness.
"If you have had COVID, you are statistically likely to be more protected than someone who's gotten the vaccine," noted Clay, on Wednesday's episode of OutKick the Show. "We need to stop talking about vaccinated versus unvaccinated, and instead we need to talk about people who have immunity and non-immunity. It can be vaccinated immunity, or it can be natural immunity."
A recent study out of Israel indicates that people built up a stronger immune response against COVID once they recovered from the illness, compared to those who were vaccinated. The latter group faced higher levels of breakthrough infection cases.
Rather than solely focusing on the percentages of vaccinated players, sporting leagues must lead the conversation back to who's truly in harm's way when it comes to COVID, which dramatically shortens the list once natural immunity is taken into account.
"The data matters in a big way as it pertains to this issue," added Clay, with optimism for a new year in sports, spearheaded by the OutKick college football bus tour.
To check out Wednesday's episode, watch the video below and subscribe to OutKick VIP for more coverage:
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