The Premier League started their Covid vaccination program earlier in the summer and a meeting between club captains and Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, was arranged three weeks ago to dispel myths and rumours which have been circulating on social media and player WhatsApp groups.
Even so, the uptake remains slow. Gareth Southgate, the England manager, is in touch with officials at every top flight club and described it last week as varied. Managers including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Steve Bruce, of Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively, have said many of their players are reluctant.
Until now, it will not have overly affected the logistics of clubs, but that could change in the coming months as the Premier League’s anti-vaxx problem bubbles above the surface.
If the virus follows the same trajectory it has since it was discovered, as we head into autumn and winter the situation is only going to worsen: cases will rise, as will hospitalisations and deaths. Travel between countries, already complicated, will likely become harder – not easier.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said earlier in August that “double vaccination or full vaccination is going to be a feature for evermore, and most countries, probably all countries, will require full vaccination for you to enter”.
He added that “if you are perhaps in your twenties and you feel like ‘oh this does not really affect me’, well it is going to because you are not going to be able to leave the country. That is not something the British government is doing, that is something that is being required by every government around the world”.
When vaccination becomes a requirement of travel, what will happen when Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United travel to Italy for Champions League games in September, November and December?
From August 31, the Italian government will allow double-vaccinated visitors from the UK to enter with evidence of a negative PCR test. The unvaccinated will have to quarantine for five days – a logistical impossibility for football clubs playing twice a week.
Uefa’s current rules state that a club must ensure exemptions are granted or the game will be moved to a neutral country without covid restrictions. But if exemptions aren’t given, and if governments become reluctant to grant them, AC Milan, Juventus and Atalanta could well argue it’s the opposing team’s problem if their players won’t get vaccinated.
And the UK government has drawn the line firmly in the sand recently. Whereas in the past they have been sympathetic to football and bent rules in place for the general public to ensure it continues, the decision was made last week that players travelling to red list countries for World Cup qualifiers during this international break would not be given exemption on their return.
It would affect 60 top-flight players, the Premier League said. Players would have to quarantine in a special government hotel for 10 days on their return, and miss four matches. If you play for a country on the red list, you will spend more time quarantining than playing for your club between now and the end of the year.
It’s already causing ruptures. Aston Villa will lose Emi Martínez and Emi Buendía, who have defied the ban and are flying to Argentina. Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso are expected to join them.
Players reticent to get jabbed could take some convincing. Anti-vaxx athletes who have caught the virus have, in some cases, doubled down. You can see the thinking: if they were relatively unaffected by the virus, surely it will only ensconce their view?
Even those who are hit badly by it have proven moved. Tennis player Johanna Konta missed Wimbledon in the summer, feeling too ill to even watch the tournament on TV. “I was sleeping or just existing for a few days,” she said. But asked if she regretted not getting vaccinated before she caught Covid, Konta had not joined the other side. “I’m not too sure on that,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of difficult things in play.
“This is a tricky conversation because it’s a very inflammatory subject and there’s no real right answer.” She said she didn’t want to discuss it “because I wouldn’t be able to put my point across”.
It’s so inflammatory Premier League clubs are wary of discussing it publicly. In-depth research by the Sunday Times revealed a reluctance for Premier League clubs to reveal the vaccination status of their players. The predominant argument was that the medical records of employees are confidential, although that does not explain a refusal to reveal the overall percentage.
Three clubs who had had success in persuading players to get jabbed were forthcoming: Wolves said 100 per cent had been double-jabbed, Leeds 96 per cent, while Brentford said 89 per cent of their players had at least one jab.
Anecdotally, for the rest it does not look good.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/38p56j9
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