Oh boy. The New Orleans Saints have gone and done it now.
The Saints recently released a statement about requirements for fans planning to attend home games at the Superdome this season.
Since the Saints are allowing full capacity in the Superdome (over 76,000), and it being an indoor stadium without a retractable roof, the organization is requiring that fans show proof of vaccination. Any fan that is not vaccinated will need to show proof of a negative test within 72 hours leading up to game time.
As a fan, whether you like it or not, you have a choice in this matter. If you want to see your team play that badly, then go and get vaccinated. Or you can choose not to and stay home for games this season. It really is that simple.
Louisiana is currently the second-least vaccinated state in the nation in terms of percent of population. Only 38.3 percent of the state of Louisiana is fully vaccinated (only Idaho is worse). That accounts for 1.78 million people with 3.89 million doses having been given thus far. And Louisiana is a COVID hot spot with cases and hospitalizations up dramatically.
By age demographics in Louisiana the older the demo, the higher the rate of fully vaccinated people. The age group 65-74 leads by far, with 82.6 percent of that age group being fully vaccinated. Of course, younger age groups are lagging, as many either aren’t taking this seriously or feel invincible. The ages of 18-24 have a vaccination rate of 45.5 percent currently, while 18 and under come in at 12.3 percent.
GO OUT AND GET VACCINATED, PEOPLE! Think beyond yourself for once in your life. Especially if you want to watch your beloved Saints in person this season.
The team’s announcement comes just weeks removed from the NFL giving its players a similar ultimatum. To sum up the NFL’s sentiments, players either need to get fully vaccinated or run the risk of being part of an outbreak and suffer the consequences.
The NFL can monitor its own and punish those who choose not to oblige, but with fans, it’s a different story. We could be on the verge of something quite ugly happening in New Orleans. Seeing how COVID-19 has been politicized over the past year, who knows what type of shenanigans (not the good kind either) could ensue.
Most of us get that this is for a good reason. But I do worry about the staff working at the Superdome and more specifically those at the gates. Many people depend on these jobs at stadiums as supplemental income. As charged up as some Americans have been over not wanting to get vaccinated, I only hope people behave themselves and don’t show their asses in public.
But how do the Saints assure everything is on the up and up? How will the Saints go about monitoring all of this? More stadium security? More police presence? I wish I had the answers to these questions, but we’ll find out soon enough.
The Saints open the season at home in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers. Hopefully, the only action that Sunday in NOLA will take place on the field. We’ve already seen how an angry crowd of people can act when something political doesn’t swing in their favor.
Some fans have already taken to Twitter to express their displeasure. Oh, Twitter whatever, would we do without you? I could care less about those who are upset because they don’t like being told what to do.
I only hope the fans who are against this edict from the Saints can keep their composure and behave like civilized, rational human beings.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
