With the best of intentions (and seeking good publicity), the NFL has offered Super Bowl tickets to vaccinated first responders from across the country. While they certainly deserve our appreciation, including them in the Covid super-spreader event of the year seems a bit inappropriate.
After all, these individuals must travel to and stay within the city and, one can easily imagine, attend pre and post game parties while in town. The vaccine will, hopefully, protect them from active infection but will not prevent them from carrying the virus back to their families, colleagues and other contacts.
Then there is the game itself, representing the modern American coliseum. The health-care workers in attendance, like other rabid fans at the stadium, will be cheering on as our professional gladiators make audible blocks and tackles, risking serious injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the name of big money and team/civic pride.
