Will the Toronto Maple Leafs Get a Vaccine Before Your Grandma?

The biggest news on the planet is the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Should we be concerned that NHL teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs try to skip the line to get them first?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to start their upcoming season in just a few weeks.

According to Greg Wyshynski, the NHL will begin a 56 game season on Jan. 13. In order to ensure that this season can begin as scheduled, the league needs to ensure that there is a rock-solid plan to limit the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.

With a global rollout of a vaccine, perhaps the best possible way to protect the athletes on the ice is by finding a way to get them vaccinated. That may just be what the league is planning.

In Ontario, inoculations will begin on Tuesday. The province has introduced a three-phase plan that will begin by distributing vaccines to front-line healthcare workers. In that first phase, only 6000 people are expected to receive it. The Toronto Maple Leafs obviously don’t qualify for this round.

Outside of that 6000, there will be another 90,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine delivered to Ontario. These will split among 14 different hospital sites to also inoculate health care workers in hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes, and senior care centers. The Maple Leafs don’t fit this category either and won’t be visiting these hospitals for their shots.

There is also a Moderna vaccine in development. Once approved, it will introduce 35,000 to 85,000 additional doses to Ontario residents. These are earmarked for long-term care homes in at-risk areas. Once again, not the Maple Leafs.

In the United States, the rollout will also begin with vaccinating health care workers. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Thomas McCaffery explained that the next in line would be the Department of Defense (DOD) personnel followed by “active and selective reserve components, including the National Guard, family members, retirees, DOD civilians and select DOD contractors. followed by members of the department of defense.” Even south of the border, the Leafs aren’t anywhere near the front of the line for doses.

This is why it made waves when John Shannon tweeted about the NHL’s interest in vaccine acquisition on Thursday evening. He explained that he had a source confirm that the league is looking to buy their own vaccines and not rely on government distributions.

This is problematic when considering the implications of such actions. If the NHL teams and their players receive these doses ahead of the general public, it delays the distribution to those in greater need.

There just isn’t a justifiable reason to inoculate the Toronto Maple Leafs players ahead of the elderly, the immunocompromised, and front line workers who all face a significant daily risk. This is why there were many who were angered with the NHL’s plan as described by the above tweet. Shannon recognized the fury he unleashed, prompting him to draft a follow-up to provide more information.

Shannon’s source explained that the NHL won’t put itself at the front of the line. Whether that’s true remains to be seen. This is a league with a history of putting its own interests ahead of the public.

In 2009, the Calgary Flames players and families were able to access H1N1 flu vaccines in Alberta at a very precarious time. They received their shots at a private clinic just one day before it was declared that there was a shortage in the province. This wasn’t just a coincidence. An investigation led to the firing of a nurse and her supervisor.

Procuring a private sale is how the NHL appears to ensure its interests are satisfied. It acquired private COVID-19 tests for their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs bubble. They used this to claim that their bubble testing was independent of the public system and as such did not affect it. It is a claim that may be used once again should the NHL purchase a large number of vaccines.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States has published that there are five companies in the third phase of their COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. they are AstraZeneca, Janssen, Moderna, Novavax, and Pfizer. Ideally, this could mean that doses get completed and rolled out quicker than anticipated.

Even if that is the case, if teams like the Leafs, who have an average age of 27.27 for this upcoming season, get the vaccine by the start of the season, the optics are putrid. Should there be vulnerable members of the public forced to wait months for their vaccine while world-class athletes are inoculated almost immediately, the certain outrage would be justified.

The NHL will do what it needs to improve the overall safety of all its constituents. It’s why they are likely to realign divisions. In their quest for safety, hopefully, the NHL truly does respect its fans and their families by allowing those in need to receive their vaccines first.