The federal government has been trying to get people to get the COVID vaccine. Those efforts have met a surprising (but maybe not) amount of resistance.
Along the way, the CDC reportedly paid the NFL Alumni Association $3.5 million to promote the COVID vaccine, according to TMZ.
“The [CDC] intends to award a sole source firm fixed price purchase order to The NFL Alumni Association (NFLA),” the notice of intent regarding the grant explains, per TMZ. “The overall purpose of this contract is to facilitate collaboration among NFL Alumni and federal state and local public health officials as well as other local leaders to address vaccine hesitancy through communication and engagement with communities less likely to get vaccinated. . . . The CDC Vaccine Task Force will work directly with the NFLA to promote community-level and national COVID-19 education outreach and vaccination acceptance.”
Some of the efforts of the NFL Alumni Association can be seen here. The obvious goal is to get former players to buy in to the vaccine, hopeful that they will then influence others to do the same.
The article refers to the payment as a “whopping” amount and a “windfall.” Without knowing full details about the efforts utilized by the NFL Alumni Association to promote the vaccine and other related expenditures by the CDC to promote vaccination, it’s difficult if not impossible to conclude that something untoward or improper has occurred.
Payments like this happen with an abundance of transparency. Surely, the CDC issued many other similar grants this year. And whatever the federal government has done wasn’t enough to bust through the inexplicable stubbornness of too many Americans who refuse to get the vaccine.
Frankly, articles that contain vague whiffs of corruption or waste will do little to help get those who have an irrational distrust of the government to do what’s in the best interests of all Americans and get the damn shot.