LONDON. There is an alarm in the Premier League for too many vaccine refusals: less than half of the footballers in the English league have been vaccinated, despite – according to the latest government data – over 82% of the adult population over 16 in the United Kingdom is already fully immunized. A real reticence to the vaccine that risks compromising the plan to reopen the same football facilities, in a country that has recorded one of the highest death rates for Covid in the world, with over 137 thousand deaths. Despite the absence of official numbers, several reports indicate that only seven of the 20 clubs in the English top division have more than 50% of their players vaccinated with two doses.
A percentage clearly lower than the rest of the British company, which is also confirmed in the minor football series, as confirmed by Gary Neville, former Manchester United full-back, now co-owner of Salford City, a club in League Two. «The vaccination rate is low not only in the Premier League but in the whole pyramid of professional football – in Neville’s words -. We have to accept it and try to understand why. But I also think that the time has come for the Footballers’ Association to come forward to explain the concerns of the players, because they don’t get vaccinated ». To convince athletes to get vaccinated, the English league has taken into consideration various incentives, such as the relaxation of the strict anti-coronavirus protocol, also providing for the exemption from the quarantine obligation for those returning players (for commitments with their national teams). from countries included in the red list, which in fact require 10 days of self-isolation.
If it is true that young and healthy athletes seem more protected from the more serious effects of Covid, an important role in the refusal of vaccines by footballers is also the anti-Vax propaganda on social media, very popular with the stars of the American football. Evidently more effective than the direct testimony of those who – like Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow – experienced Covid, hospitalized last July, on his skin. “It was worse than a razor blade, I felt like someone had shot me in the throat,” the 20-year-old concierge told the Times today, inviting his colleagues to get vaccinated. Invitations remained largely unheard by many teammates, as confirmed by Steve Bruce, manager of the Magpies: «We have many players who did not want to vaccinate, it is their choice. Yet we have been able to see for ourselves the devastating effects on some of our players. But there are so many conspiracy theories out there… ».
A call to vaccinate last weekend came from Jurgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool, according to whom 99% of the players of his first team squad have done the two doses. So far, the sports authorities have preferred not to impose mandatory vaccination, nor to provide sanctions for those who refuse the vaccine, unlike other leagues, such as the NBA in the United States, which has introduced a code of fines and disqualifications for athletes who do not agree to get immunized.