Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny says some of his players are reluctant to be vaccinated against Covid-19, despite the problems which have inflicted the squad during the pandemic.
West Brom striker Callum Robinson is out of next month’ World Cup qualifiers against Portugal, Azerbaijan and Serbia after testing positive for coronavirus for the second time, while strikers Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah missed the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Slovakia as close contacts of a third party.
Asked if he was pushing for his players to be vaccinated – meaning they would not have to isolate as close contacts – as he announced his 25-man party, Kenny told a press conference: “Yes, and that has happened with a player, for example, who had one vaccine and hadn’t had the second and wouldn’t have had to isolate.
“But that’s the situation we’re in. Ideally we’d want everyone vaccinated, but the players are men as individuals and they have the right to make their own decisions, and we have to respect that.
“In an ideal world, we would prefer to have everyone vaccinated and that wouldn’t be an issue, but you have to respect the individual wishes.”
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