COVID-19 VACCINATION

The NCAA should make the Covid-19 vaccination mandatory because this vaccine brings plenty of benefits to sport programs and to the athletes competing themselves. These benefits range from economic advantages that help support academic institutions to intangible benefits designed to help society cope with the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented damage to countries around the world.. The sudden halt of economic activity in particularly has been crippling to world GDP growth. Due in part to demand constraints, businesses experienced reduced activity, profits and along with severe liquidity constraints. As has been well documented, businesses around the world where forced to close in order to mitigate the impacts of the virus. These business closures ultimately resulted in a precipitous decline of world gross domestic product. Table 1, provided the Office of Congressional Research Services provides the percentage change of GDP growth for countries around the world during the pandemic. In Q1 and Q2 2020, nearly every major country in the world saw a contraction in GDP growth due to the pandemic.

The sports and entertainment sector are not immune to these changes in businesses closure and economic activity. If fact, the consequence for these two sectors of the economy where more severe due to the importance of live viewership toward the entertainment value of the product. Sporting events for example, saw severe economic contraction through cancellations of tournaments, national and international competitions, and travelling. Covid-19 is a virus-related infection whose cure is yet to be established but scientists have worked round the clock to come up with vaccines that reduce the risks of contracting or spreading the virus. The vaccines also help in reducing the adverse effects of the virus such as death and breathing complications. There are different types of covid-19 vaccines produced by world renowned pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson that have been distributed around the world to help mitigate the impact of the virus on society.

The World Health Organization has urged all nations and citizens to get vaccinate against the virus. These vaccines are distributed to every state and given freely to citizens at health centers or any designated Covid-19 centers. It is through the discovery of these drugs that people, organizations, businesses, athletic competitions and lockdowns were lifted. People are now in a better position to prevent the spread or contraction of the virus as they are much better able to return to a normalized life. Due in part to the severe lockdowns put in place around the world to combat the virus, consumers where able to dramatically increase their savings rates. As consumers were forced to stay indoors, they spent less on outdoor leisure activities. They also postponed vacations, attendance to sporting events, and other activities due to the uncertainty surrounding the virus (Attwell, 2018). Due in part to future uncertainty surrounding the future of the labor market, consumers also began to establish rainy day funds in the event a severe adverse shock occurs. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the savings rate as a percentage of disposable income increase from 7.2% in December 2019 to a record high of 33.7% in April 2020. Figure 1, for the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, presents the savings rates over the last decade.

Figure 1 Savings rates in the United States over the past decade.

As the chart indicates, due to the pandemic there is now a large amount of pent up demand for goods and services needed by consumers. This bodes well for future revenue growth for sporting events as not only do consumers...

…be a cause for one to lose or have the game rescheduled. That is why vaccination is important by all means. It ensures an athletes position in the team is guaranteed. A number of athletes depend on tournaments and events such as the Olympics to win sports sponsorship ad scholarship. The importance of such events is high and one can not afford to miss. Vaccination gives the athletes a greater probability of participation in sports globally.

Athletes require a greater investment of psychological efforts and physical capabilities. Covid -19 caused lack of control and uncertainty which left many athletes stressed. The fact that they were used to outdoors activities but the pandemic had everyone confined in their houses, drained many of them psychologically. Their professional future, goals and economic future is aligned to their performances in sport events. When an athlete is removed from such competitions or they cannot attend due to others reason, their chances of advancing keep reducing. It is important for all athletes to receive Covid-19 vaccination to ensure they do not miss any games. Every time an athlete misses a match, his/her professional prospects are likely to be dampened.

NCAA should make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory because when an athlete is paused from participating in sports due to coronavirus related issues, it also means an absence in classroom instruction. It leads to a decline in performance which reflects to the end of the semester. Covid-19 vaccination provide immunity that is stronger with higher antibodies and broader, which means protection against any new variant.

To sum up the study, making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory will have a great impact and a lot of benefits to both the athletes and the sports program. Great advancements will be experienced since there will be no reschedule of matches or any no-contest games. When athletes engage in…