NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wants the league’s players to eventually get the COVID-19 vaccine to possibly set a great example to those in the African American community.
Silver spoke on a virtual call by Sportico on Tuesday and talked about why he thinks it would be a positive for the league’s players to get vaccinated.
“It’s something we’re particularly focused on,” Silver said. “In the African-American community, there’s been an enormously disparate impact from COVID. … but now, somewhat perversely, there’s been enormous resistance [to vaccinations] in the African-American community for understandable historical reasons.
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“If that resistance continues it would be very much a double whammy to the black community because the only way out of this pandemic is to get vaccinated.”
Silver said that he has spoken with numerous health officials who believe there would be a public health benefit to some famous black people receiving the vaccine.
According to the CDC, Black Americans are 1.4 times more likely to contract COVID-19, 3.7 times more likely to be hospitalized by the virus, and 2.8 times more likely to die from the illness than their white counterparts.
Silver believes these moves will benefit a community that has serious reservations about getting the vaccine. While the league will not look to jump the line in terms of getting the vaccine, having NBA players going through and eventually get the vaccine will go a long way to show others if it’s effective.