reporter: professor richard k karpiano said measures are in place to watch for adverse reactions to vaccines. the cdc requires health care workers to report adverse effects following vaccination even if it s not clear whether the vaccine was the cause. the cdc said reports of serious issues are rare, so stockton s claim? really quite dangerous and puts people at harm, puts his fans at harm and someone going to die too. reporter: pandemic politics playing out right now in indoor sports like basketball where covid restrictions are stricter than in outdoor arenas. and the ncaa does not regulate policies for regular season games. leaving schools to play covid protocol referee. it s not just by conference. it is by state. this is occurring across the country, basically, in a blue, red, purple divide. reporter: divide even as the pandemic marches on. this is the boat we re all in
it is by state. this has been during across the country. basically in a blue, red, purple divide. reporter: even as the pandemic marches on. we re all in this boat together, including john stockton. reporter: this is the second major controversy in eastern washington over sports and covid protocols. last fall, washington state university fired its football coach in pullman for not following the state requirement for all state employees to be vaccinated. this is all happening in a state that has had relatively stricter covid protocols compared to some other parts of the u.s. where western washington is far more left leaning. so just another exam of very tricky covid politics playing out in each region. thank you so much. here to discuss, cnn chief correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. we re nearly two years into this pandemic and patience is running thin.