Gamecocks football improving vaccination rate as SEC updates COVID guidelines
South Carolina is inching closer to the Southeastern Conference’s 85% COVID-19 vaccination threshold, head coach Shane Beamer told reporters Thursday.
Beamer said the USC football program is just waiting for a handful of players to receive their second dosages of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We’ve got enough guys that are on track for their second shot that once they get that second shot, we will be well over the 85%,” he said. “So if you say, ‘Are you at 85% because everybody’s gotten fully vaccinated in two shots,’ not at this moment. Are we on track to fly right past 85(%)? Yes, once everyone that’s already gotten their first shot, gets that second shot.”
Beamer’s revelation comes just two days after the SEC announced updated guidelines related to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it will be handled during the upcoming football season.
In 2020, teams were under strict masking and social distancing guidelines from the conference to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among players, coaches and staffers. With the availability of the vaccine, some of those measures have been rolled back to accommodate teams that are heavily vaccinated against the disease.
The changes come amid a wave of the delta variant of COVID-19 that has become increasingly prevalent in the United States over the past few weeks and months.
Some of the new SEC protocols include:
- Non-immunized student-athletes, staff and officials must wear masks in athletic facilities until their team reaches an 85% immunization rate.
- Unvaccinated student-athletes, coaches and support staff participating in activities will continue to undergo weekly surveillance testing once per week in the summer and three days before competitions during the season
- It’s suggested that universities evaluate their indoor venues to maximize the amount of fresh air and the number of air changes per hour that their venue HVAC systems can achieve, in order to remove potential virus from the environmental air.
Beamer told reporters during SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama last month that South Carolina was “rapidly approaching” the 85% vaccination threshold among players and staff that would allow the team to ditch masks entirely.
South Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton White noted last week that there’s a level of caution when game planning related to position groups that might be more vaccinated than others. Given some positions might be more susceptible to contract tracing should a player get infected, it would affect how he and his staff prepare, at least to some degree, week to week.
“Absolutely,” White said when asked whether less-vaccinated position groups affect his thinking. “We’ve got to make sure we build that depth because one guy can take them all out. ... Definitely it’s in the back of my mind. I’m well aware of who is (vaccinated) and who is not.”
Across the conference, Alabama coach Nick Saban told reporters Thursday morning that his program will move back to measures and protocols the team put in place during the 2020 season over the next six weeks.
Saban’s decision comes as only 31% of residents in Tuscaloosa County — where the University of Alabama is located — are fully vaccinated according to the New York Times.
“We’re hoping to be able to have full capacity in the stadium,” Saban said according to AL.com. “I’m hoping more and more people will get vaccinated so we’ll have the opportunity to do that. I know it means a lot to our players.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 6:36 PM.
