The National Football League isn't playing around when it comes to the safety of its players, coaches, staff, and pocketbooks.

On Friday, an assistant coach with the Minnesota Vikings was the latest to find that out the hard way after he refused to get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.

Minnesota Vikings assistant coach Rick Dennison is out according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN after he refused to be vaccinated.

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Over the last two years, Dennison has been the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.

This comes on the heels of a memo this week from the NFL telling teams and players that if an outbreak happens amongst unvaccinated players and forces a cancellation, the team will forfeit and the players won't be paid.

It isn't just about safety either, we all know things will change again if there are wild outbreaks and that includes businesses losing money.

The NFL isn't in the business of losing money and having all their employees safe and healthy to perform goes side by side with that goal.

According to Cronin, the league has these current policies on vaccination requirements.

The vaccine is required for all Tier 1 staff, including coaches, front-office executives, equipment managers and scouts. Players are not required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine but will face strict protocols during training camp and throughout the season that vaccinated players will be able to forgo.

As numbers continue to skyrocket once again across the United States, businesses are realizing the most effective way to prevent severe illness from COVID is to get the vaccination, and quickly policies are changing.

Everyone knows the COVID-19 vaccine isn't going to keep you immune from getting infected, but it will keep you much safer, with national data showing 99% of the hospitalizations from COVID are those who haven't been vaccinated.

Over the last few weeks, we have seen politicians on both sides of the aisle, medical professionals, true leaders, and more call on the public to move forward with the vaccination as the Delta variant spreads rapidly.

Locally, Sanford Health announced this week that they are requiring all employees to be vaccinated as well.

Hopefully, people will continue to do the right thing and we can continue to go forward instead of backward and that includes enjoying many NFL games this Fall.


 

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