Covid: Premier League says 68% of players fully vaccinated

The Premier League has confirmed 68 per cent of players have now been fully vaccinated against Covid, with 19 per cent yet to receive their first dose.

The uptake of the vaccine among professional footballers has been debated at length, with several England internationals opting not to discuss their status earlier this month.

The new figures from the Premier League confirm the sport now has a similar uptake to the 18-39-year-old average across the UK.

“The Premier League can confirm today that 81 per cent of players have received at least one Covid-19 vaccination dose with 68 per cent now fully vaccinated,” a statement read.

“Vaccination rates are collected by the Premier League on a weekly basis and the league continues to work with clubs to encourage vaccination among players and club staff.

“No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the league and player vaccination rates will be communicated at appropriate intervals in the future.”

Speaking during the international break, England boss Gareth Southgate suggested players could be against being vaccinated because they are swayed by conspiracy theories on social media.

“At their age they are more open to some of these conspiracy theories because they are reading social media more,” he said.

“They are perhaps more vulnerable to those sort of views. From what I can see there is a bit of confusion around. And there are several different threads there to why they are choosing to be jabbed or not to speak publicly about it.”

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his Newcastle United counterpart Steve Bruce had said previously that some of their players had declined to take the jab.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp likened the refusal to take the vaccine to drink-driving, saying such people endanger others.

The Premier League had teamed up with the British government to make videos encouraging players to take the vaccine, reports said last month.