FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2020 file photo NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during a news conference in Miami. The NFL has set protocols for reopening team facilities and has told the 32 teams to have them in place by May 15. In a memo sent by Goodell and obtained Wednesday, May 6, 2020 by The Associated Press, several phases of the protocols were laid out. The first phase would involve a limited number of non-player personnel, initially 50 percent of the non-player employees (up to a total of 75) on any single day, being approved to be at the facility. But state or local regulations could require a lower number. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, file)Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Roger Goodell Told Joe Biden All NFL Stadiums Can Be Used for COVID-19 Vaccines

Adam WellsFeb 5, 2021

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has informed President Joe Biden that each of the league's stadiums can be used as a COVID-19 vaccination site.

Goodell wrote in a letter to Biden on Thursday:

"The NFL and our 32 member clubs are committed to doing our part to ensure that vaccines are as widely accessible in our communities as possible. To that end, each NFL team will make its stadium available for mass vaccinations of the general public in coordination with local, state, and federal health officials. This is currently being done at seven NFL stadiums today. We can expand our efforts to stadiums across the nation more effectively because many of our clubs have offered their facilities previously as COVID testing centers as well as election sites over the past several months."

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The NFL has 30 team stadiums across the United States.

Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, became the first NFL stadium used as a mass vaccination location Jan. 15.

The San Francisco 49ers announced Friday that Levi's Stadium will open next week as a vaccine site for Santa Clara County.

Sports stadiums and arenas have been used during the pandemic for events that require many people to occupy a single location at the same time, including as polling places and COVID-19 testing sites.

Brian McCarthy, the NFL's vice president of communications, said last month the league was encouraging teams "to contact their state and local health departments to offer stadiums and practice facilities, if practical, to serve as sites for vaccinating the general public."

Given the size of NFL stadiums, people will be able to social-distance properly without increasing their risk of potential exposure. Stadiums are also capable of holding more people than a traditional hospital vaccination site.