Arizona football program 100% vaccinated against COVID-19

The Arizona Wildcats football program announced Thursday on Twitter that it is 100 percent vaccinated against COVID-19. That number includes all players, coaches and staffers affiliated with the program.

Reaching that milestone, which the program said it “worked very hard to accomplish”, will help the Wildcats avoid forfeitures during the regular season. The Pac-12 recently announced that games canceled due to COVID-19 will be counted as losses for the team that cannot field a playable roster due to positive cases and/or contact tracing.

“That gives us a competitive advantage in my mind, as we should not miss any time as a football team due to COVID,” head coach Jedd Fisch said at local media earlier in the month. “Obviously if somebody tests positive on a breakthrough, then the rest of the team does not have to quarantine because they’re vaccinated. And that’s a huge part of it. So we’re excited. Our team is ready to go. Our team is healthy.”

Not every Pac-12 school has announced its vaccination rate, but Arizona might be the first in the conference to reach 100 percent. UCLA was recently in the lead with a 98 percent vaccination rate, according to the Mercury News. Washington State was last at 80 percent.

Making Arizona’s vaccination rate even more notable is that the UA is not currently requiring it for students or employees. It’s been a total team effort.