Say "NO" to Continental Chess Association

CCA quietly inserted covid vaccination requirements into upcoming in-person tournaments beginning March 2022.

This differed from current mask rules which have been in place since CCA brought back in-person chess tournaments on 5/30/2021.

Since the comeback of in-person CCA tournaments in May 2021 with proving working mask protocol, CCA organized at least 23 tournaments, and drew at least 7805 chess players all over the country, we received ZERO communication from CCA about any possible covid spread in these tournaments. What is better than ZERO???

And yet the tyrant is worrying about the "foolish unvaccinated players" baselessly.

Let's say “NO” to CCA covid Vax requirement.

https://www.change.org/p/us-chess-players-say-no-to-continental-chess-association-when-woke-culture-comes-to-chess

SordFish thanks for your post. Vaccination is a difficult and, for some, an emotional issue.

Your third paragraph seems confusing.  Zero communication means no data or information. Any reliable data is better than zero.

People are free to choose vaccination or not.  Likewise an organization should be free to require it or not. 

Vaccination has small risks. But many things in life have risks, yet we do them anyway : high speed driving ; major surgery with prolonged anesthesia.  A Professor at Harvard summarized it succinctly "It's less risky to take the vaccination than not to take it".

Health care workers are getting burned out. They say that most of the critically ill Covid patients are unvaccinated. Yes, some of the patients are vaccinated. But they usually have a shorter stay and less fatalities.

  I am vaccinated but have friends who are not. One friend is a transplant patient on powerful immunosuppressants.  He was visited by an unvaccinated couple.  He got Covid  and almost died.

Public Health is a compromise between individual freedom and public safety.  Years ago I took care of tuberculosis patients.  A person with active tuberculosis could not be kept in a hospital or sanatorium against their will. They were free to go home.  But they had to remain at home until the infection was under control.  Fast forward to Covid. People are free to reject the vaccine. But do they stay at home ?  No, they go out and sometimes transmit the virus to others, a few of whom die.  You don't have to be an ethicist to see the incongruities here.

Hi little_ernie, thanks for your feedback.

When I say “zero”, which means 0/23 tournaments organized by CCA since May 2021 has been labeled as covid spread event, since we did not receive any communications about covid spread in these tournaments. CCA is obligated to report such information if any player reported or complained.

All the 23 tournaments have been in place without any delay or covid policy change. Of course, you can argue we do not know the status for these tournaments, unless it is labeled as covid spread events. I would say innocent unless proven guilty, just like if anyone has covid or not.

I am not into to argue the benefit of covid or any other vaccines, or the risk of not being vaccinated.

Although my child and I have received the covid vaccine, I share and understand many peoples' hesitation for covid vaccines, especially for their young children, which are a huge part of any given chess tournament. 

When I brought out my kid to chess tournaments, we never worried whether the people next to us received covid vaccines or not. We just tried to enjoy chess. I believe being vaccinated or not is their business and their personal choice, and not our concern at any moment. People can always choose to Vax themselves if they are convinced that covid Vax is beneficial to them, especially in these chess tournaments.

Everyone may transmit covid or other infectious diseases. But 0/23 means the current covid policy is working perfectly so far, and any unvaccinated players are actually more careful and cautious than any statistical model can suggest.

Why break current working covid policy and exclude some chess players and accuse them "foolish unvaccinated players" baselessly?

We do not need to be a scientist or statistician to tell how good 0/23 is.

Bravo to CCA. More organizations should take this responsible position.

More than likely, it means that individuals who contracted COVID at these events did not notify CCA of that fact.

"Working perfectly" is speculative. Working well-enough to satisfy CCA's lawyers might be accurate.

I understand the reluctance of parents to have their children vaccinated.  A recent report stated the incidence of myocarditis was 2.13 cases per 100,000 vaccinated and the highest incidence was in males ages 16 - 29.  In that cohort apparently there was no attempt to vaccinate those under 16 years. One wonders if myocarditis will be more common in those under 16.

N Engl J Med 2021;385:2132-9  Myocarditis after Covid-19 Vaccination...

This is a political discussion about vaccination and not a general discussion about chess. Discussions about politics are not allowed by the site.