Players who won’t have jabs really needle me
I WANT to put this out there – clearly and firmly. I’m vaccinated, my whole family is. And I got the booster.
Why? Because I feel I need to do it to help people return to normal lives. Real life. Not this nightmare where I’ve had to delete news apps from my feed because it is unrelentingly bleak and depressing.
And I passionately believe footballers need to do that, too. I’m surprised – and disappointed – so many of them are not vaccinated and have said they have no intention of doing so.
Why? Well, it’s true no one came into the sport to be a role model, but we ARE role models all the same. We may not be the ultimate examples in society, but the fact is we CAN make a difference.
When footballers got involved in supporting the NHS a year ago, it made a difference.
When we speak out on issues, it makes a difference.
And when football can give positivity in people’s lives, it makes a difference.
I’m following the science, I make no excuses for that. I’m taking the advice of people who have studied this virus and know more about it than me.
When I decided to get a booster, I spoke to Liverpool’s club doctor first.
It’s part of his job to keep on top of this avalanche of information and misinformation.
I asked if it was the right thing to do, his reply was emphatic: “100 percent”.
Footballers take their club doctor’s advice on every other medical issue. Why not this one?
And, let’s be clear here, when the news is grim all the time, we can all try to do our bit to change it.
I’ve seen the misery people have suffered in these last horrific 20 months.
People are enduring isolation, serious mental health problems. Elderly people haven’t seen loved ones for months on end, some haven’t seen anyone.
I’m doing my bit for my family, but I’m also doing it for people I don’t know, the vulnerable, the scared, the suffering.
It’s the least I can do and I strongly believe it’s the least footballers can do.
Take the advice of the doctors they trust with their careers and help other people.
Ensure football can go on, ensure fans can go to games and have an afternoon of pleasure and emotion.
They can’t do that if football gets cancelled because there are too many players with Covid.
I know people have different opinions, I know there’s an element of society who
will read this and rubbish me. I’d like to tell you that I respect their opinion.
But I don’t.
I’ve seen people dying. Alone. And I’ve joined the dots. I’m not an expert, but I am prepared to take the opinion of people who know more about it than me.
Those are the people I respect.
I think part of the problem is there’s too much stuff out there being peddled by the misinformed – or simply the malicious.
I see football numbers that frighten me. Only a dozen players with Covid a week ago, six times that now.
If hospital numbers shoot up dramatically soon and it’s no longer safe to go to football, then, of course, we should go behind closed doors again.
Yet I’d argue passionately that it’s the duty of us ALL to do what we can to ensure it doesn’t come to that. All of us, including footballers. They may be fit and healthy, but they still have a duty.
They have a duty, like the rest of us – to mask up, take regular tests, stay at home with symptoms. And get vaccinated, get boosters. Do what they can, so we can return to normal life.
Liverpool’s doc told me booster was 100 percent
right thing