Stade Toulousain, Castres Olympique and Montpellier-Hérault could follow in the footsteps of Stade Rochelais and Racing 92: have their players vaccinated to put an end to the postponements of Top 14 matches every weekend. The National Rugby League (LNR) supports this approach.
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There are still too many Top 14 matches rescheduled because of players affected by the Covid. To stop this spiral, Racing 92 has already vaccinated 30 of its employees, including 6 players.
President Jacky Lorenzetti took advantage of a favorable situation: indeed, a “vaccinodrome” receiving thousands of patients every day was installed in the enclosure of their stadium, “La Défense Arena”, in Nanterre in the Hauts- de-Seine.
The important thing … is the dose
However, every evening, a certain number of opened vials remain: so as not to lose precious doses of vaccine, after agreement of the prefect – and only in these particular circumstances – the choice has been made to inject them, to prevent them from happening. are out of date, to people who present themselves, even if they theoretically do not meet all the criteria to benefit from it.
On the side of La Rochelle, the club took the initiative to contact the local vaccination centers and the town hall to ask to benefit from a priority for its players. Despite their agreement in principle, this was initially refused to them. However, the ARS (Regional Health Agency) has let it be known that it is not opposed to the La Rochelle rugby players being injected – them too – with doses that are not used and that risk being lost.
Some Top 14 rugby players can take advantage of the choice made by health authorities to try not to waste any dose of the vaccine.
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© Guillaume Bonnaud / MaxPPP
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Other clubs, such as Toulon and Lyon, have made it known publicly that they want to follow suit: of course, they refuse to claim a pass if there are people waiting in line to receive an injection. to which the rules in force entitle them.
They too wish to take part in a concern to avoid any mess – even if the Lyon coach Pierre Mignoni emphasizes that in view of the wave of contamination that has affected his workforce for months, 80% of his players are today “immuno-covid”.
The National Rugby League (LNR) has let it be known that it expresses its support for this approach.
Castres and Toulouse reflect
Moreover, according to information from our colleague “Le Monde”, the government has just taken note of these latest developments to endorse this development: from next Thursday, May 12, doses of vaccine found in excess each day can be injected at “all French people without age limit”.
As for the clubs in Occitanie, this solution to a legitimate concern is being considered, but the points of view differ slightly.
Stade Toulousain had several players affected by the epidemic a few weeks ago but not for some time: the Haut-Garonnais club takes advantage of a very strict application of the protocol imposed on professional teams and no longer has any match late.
