Unjabbed players face ban against France in Six Nations

[Heathen]

Unjabbed players face ban against France in Six Nations
Adam Hathaway, Adam Sage, Paris
Tuesday December 28 2021, 12.01am, The Times

England may be allowed to field only fully vaccinated players when they face France in the Six Nations Championship in March as a result of new restrictions that were announced last night.

Full vaccinations will become mandatory for professional sports people in France from January 15 under fresh Covid-19 rules outlined last night by Emmanuel Macron’s government.

The RFU were last night seeking clarification on what this will mean for elite sporting teams, but it appears that Eddie Jones’s England team for the Six Nations match in Paris on March 19 will have to be fully vaccinated, unless the rules are changed before then.

Chelsea may also be required to field only vaccinated players when they face Lille in the Champions League on March 16. Under the present rules, professional as well as amateur sportspeople need to show a Covid passport to gain access to stadiums and to participate in matches.

The passport, which is also required for a wide variety of public places in France, can be obtained through a negative test or a vaccination certificate.

Now only a vaccination certificate will be accepted, in effect barring the unvaccinated. A health ministry official confirmed that the new rules would apply to sportspeople. To obtain a certificate, they will have to be fully vaccinated, having had two doses and in some cases a booster as well.

Under the new restrictions, French crowds will be limited to 5,000 outdoors and 2,000 indoors. Spectators, too, will need to be fully vaccinated.

It is not clear how many of England’s players are fully vaccinated but the centre Henry Slade revealed this year that he would not be receiving the vaccination as he had had a reaction to jabs in the past.

An RFU spokesperson said: “We will always follow government travel advice and we will continue to monitor the situation in relation to England’s Six Nations game in France.”
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In France, about 98 per cent of elite rugby players are said to be vaccinated and about 95 per cent of footballers. Both figures are higher than those in the equivalent English competitions.

Meanwhile, Bath’s Premiership Rugby Cup clash with Exeter Chiefs tomorrow has been cancelled because of coronavirus and injuries; Bath are without enough front-row forwards to fulfil the fixture. Bath said that Premiership Rugby would determine the points allocation for the cancelled game, but that their league match with London Irish on Monday was unaffected.

[Neils]

Can't blame them.

[petros]

That's Slade out but I would guess he isn't the only one

[JonnyD]

That's Slade out but I would guess he isn't the only one

Wonder if his values are worth more than the £20k match fee he’ll miss out on.

[WonkyWasp]

Unless he has some physical reason for not being jabbed maybe it'll persuade him to see sense. The French ban  seems eminently sensible.

[Chunky24]

Exeter have to travel to Montpellier on January 23rd, could tell us quite a bit.

[Neils]

Wonder if Wee Nippy up north might do the same.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

If you have not had any jabs before now, it is too late to be fully jabbed by then.

[Rossm]

"Henry Slade revealed this year that he would not be receiving the vaccination as he had had a reaction to jabs in the past."

Well, one of the side effects of not having the vaccine is possibly death, so I guess, as you're still alive, your previous reactions to jabs weren't that bad. He's presumably intelligent and is also clinically vulnerable as he's type 1 diabetic, so, presumably after some thought, he's managed to come to entirely the wrong conclusion.

Perhaps I presume too much?

[St Bruno]

RossM,
Isn't Slade also an asthmatic? I've seen him using an inhaler during games in the past. Maybe that's another reason for him to resist the jab.

[Trevs Big Tackle]

If they're fully un-jabbed is there time to get them fully vaccinated? 6 months between the first two jabs plus a month or two before the booster...

I suppose the RFU could arrange for a J&J one shot vaccination then they could just about squeeze a booster in before the 6 Nations.

[Trevs Big Tackle]

"Henry Slade revealed this year that he would not be receiving the vaccination as he had had a reaction to jabs in the past."

Well, one of the side effects of not having the vaccine is possibly death, so I guess, as you're still alive, your previous reactions to jabs weren't that bad. He's presumably intelligent and is also clinically vulnerable as he's type 1 diabetic, so, presumably after some thought, he's managed to come to entirely the wrong conclusion.

Perhaps I presume too much?

Has Slade ever spoken about the reaction he had to a previous vaccination? I mean, if he's complaining that it made his arm hurt for a couple of days then he needs to get some perspective. On the other hand if he had a severe reaction, like his testicles swelling to the size of melons, then he might have a legitimate concern.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

I'm no immunologist, but I suspect if he had a reaction to a vaccine in the past it probably wasn't a Covid one, and so he's likely to be fine.

It's a bit like saying I had an allergic reaction to some soup a while ago so I won't eat with a spoon anymore.

[Neils]

Well whatever he ain't playing in France!

[Rossm]

"Henry Slade revealed this year that he would not be receiving the vaccination as he had had a reaction to jabs in the past."

Well, one of the side effects of not having the vaccine is possibly death, so I guess, as you're still alive, your previous reactions to jabs weren't that bad. He's presumably intelligent and is also clinically vulnerable as he's type 1 diabetic, so, presumably after some thought, he's managed to come to entirely the wrong conclusion.

Perhaps I presume too much?

Has Slade ever spoken about the reaction he had to a previous vaccination? I mean, if he's complaining that it made his arm hurt for a couple of days then he needs to get some perspective. On the other hand if he had a severe reaction, like his testicles swelling to the size of melons, then he might have a legitimate concern.

That would probably make even me think twice