As Boise State opens fall camp in private, the NCAA updates its COVID-19 guidelines

While the Boise State football team began fall training camp with a closed practice Wednesday morning, the NCAA released updated COVID-19 guidelines, detailing different protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated players and coaches.

Individuals are considered “fully vaccinated” beginning 14 days after their final dose of the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the NCAA’s presentation entitled “Resocialization of College Sport: 2021 Fall Training and Competition.” It’s the eighth such publication pertaining to COVID-19 guidelines the NCAA has released since May 2020.

One theme that has been consistent in recent publications from the NCAA — not to mention the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and most state and local health agencies — is that getting vaccinated is the most effective way to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Many college football programs have taken this to heart. Alabama and Ohio State both recently announced their team vaccination rates are close to 90%. Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said at media days in July that seven of the conference’s 12 teams were closing in on 90%. But it’s still not enough to ensure herd immunity, according to the NCAA’s Chief Medical Officer Brian Hainline.

“Current vaccination rates remain inadequate to provide community-level immunity,” Hainline said in a statement on Wednesday. “It is essential that member schools work in concert with federal, state and local public health officials to develop COVID-19 prevention and management strategies that make sense for them.”

Neither a spokesperson for the university nor Boise State football coach Andy Avalos would comment on the Broncos’ vaccination rate at media days. Avalos still wouldn’t give specifics during a press conference in Albertsons Stadium on Tuesday, though he said the team’s rate is improving while also warning that the pandemic is still likely to make life difficult this season.

“The protocols and the pandemic will play a role in college football this year,” Avalos said.

Avalos’ words rang particularly true Tuesday night when Boise State announced that practices will be closed to guests — including the media — until further notice because of a spike in COVID-19 cases in the athletic department.

No information has been made available about how many players or coaches tested positive, if any of the positive cases were among vaccinated individuals or when practices will be open again. But the Broncos did practice Wednesday, despite canceling scheduled media appearances by Avalos and a couple players.

During media days, Thompson warned that players and coaches who aren’t vaccinated will have to go through many of the same testing, masking and social-distancing protocols as last year. He also said teams will have to forfeit games canceled because of positive tests and could be on the hook for an opponent’s financial losses.

Many of the NCAA’s updated guidelines fall in line with what the Mountain West has been pushing, especially when it comes to differing protocols for those who are vaccinated and those who aren’t.

Players and coaches who aren’t vaccinated will be tested within three to five days upon arrival on campus, or a return from a substantial absence, and they aren’t allowed to train or practice until they show proof of a negative test. During the season, they’ll be required to test up to three times a week, or three days before a game, just like last fall.

Vaccinated players and coaches aren’t required to be tested unless they’re symptomatic.

Without a vaccine, those who come in close contact with an infected person will have to quarantine, just like last year, while those who are vaccinated will simply be asked to wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days once a test performed three to five days after exposure comes back negative.

In the event of a positive test, vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals both have to isolate for 10 days and be symptom free for 24 hours before leaving isolation.

Some of the masking guidelines remain consistent regardless of vaccination status; players and coaches who are vaccinated and those who aren’t will have to wear masks during team travel.

The difference is those who aren’t vaccinated are asked to wear masks during all athletic and non-athletic events outside of practice, while those who are vaccinated are only required to wear masks indoors. There is no requirement to wear a mask during training or competition in the NCAA’s latest guidelines.

Boise State, however, is strongly recommending that all members of its campus community — regardless of vaccination status — wear masks when indoors on campus. The city of Boise has also mandated that people wear masks in all city facilities.

The most difficult part of trying to come up with a consistent set of guidelines is that there is no consistency when it comes to the pandemic. The NCAA admits in its presentation what health experts have been saying all along: getting vaccinated does not protect someone from contracting the virus, but it is the most effective way to control its spread and prevent hospitalization and death in most cases.

Boise State is now less than a month from its season opener at UCF (Sept. 2, ESPN), but just like last year, those inside the program and outside are left to wonder if there’s even going to be a season.