If a National Football League game cannot be rescheduled and is canceled due to a Covid-19 outbreak among unvaccinated players, that team will have to forfeit and will be credited with a loss, the NFL said in a league-wide memo obtained by CNN.
The new rule makes being unvaccinated a competitive disadvantage this year, all part of the league's push to get players and staff inoculated ahead of the coming season. The NFL has also said that any team that vaccinates 85% of its players and staff can relax their safety protocols and has applied looser rules to vaccinated players.
