NRL hits vaccine roadblock on May 28 ‘return’ to play
BRISBANE, Australia, May 7, (AP): The National Rugby League’s planned return to competition on May 28 after a two-month shutdown amid the coronavirus pandemic is being upstaged by at least one player who refuses to get a seasonal flu vaccine.
It has reached the upper echelons of the Australian government, with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on Thursday reiterating Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call for the NRL to institute a “no jab, no play” policy as teams gather this week to begin training.
Gold Coast Titans forward Bryce Cartwright has refused to get the annual flu shot and said it would be “coercion” if he was forced to.
Also, Canberra Raiders forwards Sia Soliola, Josh Papalii and Joseph Tapine were reported by local media to have crossed out a line in the NRL’s vaccination waiver that stated players must accept they are at a heightened risk of contracting influenza if they go without the injection.
Medical officials have told the NRL that players getting influenza in tandem with COVID-19 – for which there is no vaccine yet – would result in serious illnesses and could spread quickly through a team.
Later Thursday, in a complicated decision, the Australian Rugby League Commission revised a vaccination waiver clause to allow NRL players to play if they refuse to be vaccinated.
“A clause has been taken out. It used to say they believe by not having it (vaccination) that would put them medically at risk – well they don’t believe that,” the commission said. “So we have changed that to say that they have been advised by their medical officer that they are at risk. It should’ve been like that in the first place to be honest. So if any player doesn’t execute the waiver they will not be able to play.”
Cartwright had also put a line through a sentence stating players accept being at greater risk of contracting influenza without the injection.
“I won’t be bullied into making decisions that could impact my health and the health of my family,” he said on social media. “Giving us the ultimatum of get the shot or be stood down is coercion and leaking private medical information is illegal.”