Why Aren't The Montana Griz Revealing COVID Vaccine Numbers?

Missoula's been seeing a spike in COVID cases recently - it's gotten bad enough where Mayor John Engen even had to go on CNN to urge everyone to get vaccinated.

So obviously, events moving forward have to proceed with caution and follow certain protocols in order to happen safely. And that includes the ongoing football season at the University of Montana - the Griz have already played their first home game of the season, and they've got five more on the schedule.

Here's something you may not know about the Griz this season - if a player is unvaccinated, that player is required to provide a negative COVID-19 test every week. If a test comes back positive, that student will be asked to go into quarantine - and players are being asked to wear masks while in an indoor space.

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One interesting note, though - the university is NOT revealing what percentage of its student athletes are fully vaccinated. And it's not a privacy issue either - MSU has revealed that around 90% of the Bobcats football team has been vaccinated. UM Director of Athletics Kent Haslam says that the Griz vaccination rate is "significantly higher" than the rate for Missoula County, but still didn't reveal any specific number.

So why are the Griz keeping their number out of the spotlight? That remains to be seen, and it's totally possible that they will reveal their percentage later in the season. We do know that the Big Sky Conference is recommending that each team has a vaccination rate of around 80%.

Are you planning to head to any Griz games this season?

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