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Report: NHL planning private purchase of COVID-19 vaccine
NHL insider John Shannon reported on Thursday that the league is planning the private purchase of a COVID-19 vaccine for all parties involved in the upcoming 2021 season if a new deal is ratified.
Source confirms that the NHL is planning the private purchase of a COVID vaccine for all constituents involved in the potential upcoming season.
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) December 10, 2020
For clarification...
The NHL is interested in securing vaccine when and if it’s available for private purchase.
Is it at this point? — no.
The league also is adamant they would not jump the line to do so.— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) December 11, 2020
Health Canada approved a COVID-19 vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer-BioNTech on Wednesday after scientists reviewed data from a two-month clinical trial, becoming the third country in the world to approve a vaccine, joining the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
The distribution of the vaccine in Canada would initially go to the most vulnerable populations in society. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization named the elderly, long-term care home residents and staff, front-line health workers and Indigenous communities as the groups that should receive the vaccine first and though the distribution is subject to provincial government discretion, they are widely expected to follow the recommendation, the CBC reported. 125,000 people are expected to be vaccinated during the first round of the process, and the vaccine could arrive as early as the middle of next week.
A 23-person expert panel advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submitted their approval Thursday for the Pfizer vaccine, and the FDA is widely expected to approve the vaccine as early as Saturday. Seventeen of the experts were in favour, four were against, and two abstained, according to The New York Times. Health care workers and nursing home workers are expected to be among the first to receive the vaccine in the U.S.
The NHL, nor any other major North American sports league has commented on its plans, or lack thereof, to purchase the COVID-19 vaccine when available.
The NHL and NHLPA have yet to reach an agreement for the upcoming season, but a proposed 56-game schedule has been put into place, with a Jan. 13 target date for the start of the campaign. Although the season hasn’t been agreed upon, it was reported Wednesday that the NHL and its teams agreed to a restructuring of the four divisions, with a focus on the implementation of an All-Canadian division due to travel restrictions implemented by the Canadian federal government. The 2021 season cannot begin without the approval of the NHL’s board of governors, but the league and players’ association reportedly reached an agreement on an unchanged economic framework.
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