The NFL's chief medical officer refuted Patriots coach Bill Belichick's recent claim that there has been a "pretty high number" of breakthrough Covid-19 cases affecting vaccinated players and personnel during training camps.
Dr. Allen Sills, speaking with reporter Judy Battista on the NFL Network on Thursday, said Belichick was mistaken in his suggestion, with data indicating throughout the preseason that vaccinated players reported both lower rates of infection and serious illness.
"We released our data last week from the first three weeks of August, and that data has consistently shown higher rates of infection in unvaccinated players than in vaccinated players -- that was true at intake, when they first came into training camp, and it was true during that first-three-week-of-August period that we released."
Belichick's remarks came in response to questions from reporters about whether quarterback Cam Newton being unvaccinated played a role in his surprising release in late August.
The future Hall of Fame coach dismissed the line of questioning, and seemed to express skepticism about the efficacy of vaccines in the process, per Pro Football Talk.
“You guys keep talking about that, and I would just point out that I don’t know what the number is,” Belichick said. “I mean, you guys can look it up. You have the access to a lot of information, but the number of players and coaches and staff members that have been infected by COVID in this training camp who have been vaccinated is a pretty high number, so I wouldn’t lose sight of that."
Sills said the NFL's trends mirror those on the national level.
"From a medical perspective -- those of us in the medical field -- go to any major medical center in the country, and as you walk around those patients who are hospitalized, those who are in the ICU, you see the evidence that the vaccines are working.
"So, we know the vaccines are working. What we are seeing is some vaccinated people who test positive, but their illness tends to be very short and very mild. And that's exactly what the vaccines were designed to do. Let's all remember that the vaccines were designed to prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death. They're doing a terrific job of that so far, not only in the NFL, but in society as a whole."
Newton, 32, was widely reported to have not been inoculated against the virus. He missed several weeks last season after testing positive, and missed several days toward the end of camp after mistakenly violating protocols. The strong play of rookie Mac Jones throughout the preseason almost surely played a role in the Patriots' decision to move on from the former NFL MVP.
Belichick meanwhile said the vaccine has not proven to be the silver bullet he believes some suggested it would be.
"We have other players on the team who aren’t vaccinated, as I would say probably does every other team in the league. We’ve had minimal throughout the league. There’ve been a number of, quite a high number I would say, of players who have had the virus who have been vaccinated, so your implication that vaccination solves every problem, I would say that has not been substantiated based on what’s happened in training camps this year.”
Sills seemed to contradict this narrative on NFL Network.
"I think we will continue to see some people who are vaccinated test positive, but, again, with very mild symptoms, short duration of sickness, and good outcomes."
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