Georgia Tech’s vaccination rate for COVID-19 is greater than 85%, coach Geoff Collins said Friday after the team’s first preseason practice. The ACC has considered that threshold as its standard for allowing the easing of protocols for teams that meet it.
“I don’t want to dive too much into specifics, but I think we’re going to be over 90 within the next two weeks,” Collins said. “The guys have done a great job, our medical staff, our training staff, just the educational piece with the guys has been really good.”
At the ACC Kickoff media event in Charlotte, N.C., on July 21-22, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said that the league and its medical advisory group was considering different provisions for teams that meet that mark, such as vaccinated team members not having to test regularly for COVID-19 or not being a potential candidate for contact tracing if a teammate tests positive. At the time of the event, Tech was right around the 85% mark. More than half of the teams in the conference have reached that rate. The ACC is expected to release the medical advisory report that will outline all protocols in the near future.
The team was able to have one taste of its pre-pandemic life back Thursday, the day before preseason camp began. Players and coaches assembled in the team meeting room for the first time since March 2020. To provide distancing for team members, Collins often resorted to having team-wide meetings in the stands of Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“Just being together in that room just makes us feel so much more united than when you’re out in the stands,” wide receiver Malachi Carter said. “But just that team-room vibe for the team meeting – definitely a good feeling to be back in there.”
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