Florida will head into the heart of fall camp next week with its season opener versus FAU less than a month away. But COVID-19 and the Delta variant are still surging in the state of Florida and Alachua County, which may force the University of Florida to bring back preventative measures to curb the spread.
UF announced last Saturday that they expect everyone, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks at all indoors effective immediately. However, Florida’s team vaccination rate continues to progress.
“Our vaccinations continue to increase,” coach Dan Mullen said on Thursday. “I don’t know the exact number. We’re not at 100%, but we’re really very, very, very high that way. We’re at a grade that you could bring home to your parents, you wouldn’t have to hide that report card. We’re at a percentage where you’d be proud to bring your report card home with our percentage number on there.”
On Aug. 8, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said that his program has reached a 100% vaccination rate. The SEC also set a threshold at 85% of a roster being vaccinated for COVID-19 surveillance testing to be suspended. It’s unclear on whether the Gators have hit that mark, but they are taking the surge in the state seriously.
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“We’re still educating and learning,” Mullen said. “We had a big meeting the other day, looking at the curve and the expected curve and trying to continue to educate our guys. We kind of switched back to — we’re not mandatory masks in anything we do but highly encouraged especially in any sort of team or positional meeting when we’re indoor confined spaces.”
Florida still hopes COVID-19 won’t derail its season, but it’s ready to make adjustments if necessary.
“I think our guys understand that and have done a pretty good job of that, of understanding that and having been through it,” Mullen said. “Little bit more educated on the situation of preventative aspect of it and where to be comfortable and how not to be and what not to do. So, we have changed that since we’ve gone (into camp), but we have not put any mandates in on anybody. But we’re just continuing to educate and learn but haven’t gone full on to mandatory anything just yet.”
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