This month marks a full year and a half since we reopened live CoCo events after a long layoff brought on by COVID-19. Our first tournament back on the circuit came over Labor Day weekend in 2021.

Since then, a lot has happened - we've run over 25 tournaments in total, with more than 130 different players joining us from all over the world. But unfortunately, another thing has also happened - COVID has stayed with us. This virus is not going away, and it may not go away for the foreseeable future. ENDEMIC is more than just a playable 7-letter bingo - it's become a way of life.

For us at the CoCo, it's been challenging to find the right balance as we navigate the COVID era. On one hand, we want people to be able to enjoy live Scrabble tournaments - that's the whole point of all of this, after all. On the other hand, we still want to do everything we reasonably can to prioritize player health and safety.

Our approach to COVID was a hardline one initially - we required all players at all tournaments to be fully vaccinated and have received every booster shot for which they were eligible. Some directors were checking people's cards at tournaments and requiring players to get boosted immediately if they weren't up to date on their shots.

Today, we're announcing that we're softening our approach a little bit. We still care deeply about players' health and safety - but we're also mindful of the fact that not everyone is obsessively tracking every single release of every single booster shot, which is understandable. We've tweaked our guidelines accordingly.

As of today, the CoCo COVID-19 policy is:

• All players still must be fully vaccinated to enter tournaments. "Fully vaccinated" means receiving all one's shots in a primary vaccination series - for example, two sequential shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

• The CoCo no longer requires that players receive all booster shots for which they are eligible. We do, however, still strongly recommend that you get any booster shots available to you. 

• Players who falsify their vaccination status to enter a tournament may face stiff penalties, including ejection from the event in question as well as potential suspension from future events.

• We believe in empowering our directors to implement whatever additional public health and safety practices they deem appropriate for their tournaments. Additional protocols may include requiring booster shots, masks, proof of vaccination status, or daily testing.

Above all, we ask players to simply show some common sense and some decency. Do your best to stay safe and healthy; if you're sick, do your best not to infect others. And always be respectful of others' choices. When other players opt to get boosted and/or get tested and/or be masked, let them do so in peace, and don't harass them. (Better yet: Just don't harass anyone for any reason ever!)

The sad truth about COVID-19 is it's still a thing, even in 2023. And it'll probably be a thing for a while. And we can't prevent every single infection - we're realistic about that. But it remains our sincere hope that everyone attending CoCo events keeps taking basic steps to protect themselves and others. Let's all enjoy Scrabble together, but let's do it responsibly.

We hope to see you over the board soon.