NHL relaxes COVID protocols for vaccinated players

The league said there has been a high adoption rate of vaccines among players and teams and urged team members to receive a booster shot. The changes will come into effect for each club following their last game before the Feb. 5 All-Star game.

The National Hockey League and its players association on Monday issued revisions to its COVID-19 protocols that included the removal of daily testing for fully vaccinated players in light of the declining rate of positive cases. More than 100 games were postponed this season because of issues related to COVID and the league was hit particularly hard from mid-December to mid-January amid the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

But the situation has improved since then and in response, the league said it would implement the changes to allow vaccinated players and club personnel to return to "a more normal and less regulated approach" from a COVID perspective. The league said there has been a high adoption rate of vaccines among players and teams and urged team members to receive a booster shot.

The changes will come into effect for each club following their last game before the Feb. 5 All-Star game.