Jab optional: Kapua

THE option of athletes and players taking the Coronavirus vaccination will remain at the discretion of their respective national federations and competition heads, says the Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation.
Foundation pandemic management committee chairman Dr Kapua Kapua said the government policy, carried by the National Control Centre, stated that vaccination remained optional for all competitions.
“The official government policy says that vaccination is not mandatory,” he said.
“They (players) are not forced into getting vaccinated, but it will be the organisation itself that will tell their players to get vaccinated.
“Like we’ve had with rugby league (Digicel Cup), it was one of their conditions. “But that was enforced by their management to show to the centre that they would be compliant in running their competition.
“I do feel that the issue of vaccination might come up again when we have our discussions with the centre, but it is not mandatory.”
The PNG Rugby Football League earlier this year took a strong stance on players getting vaccinated with more than 400 players and officials taking the jab prior to the Digicel Cup season.
The main drive behind the vaccination of players and officials was to mitigate the risk of transmission, given that they would be travelling to and from provinces around the country to have their games.