Two Jabs or You’re Out! Sportspeople and the Covid Vaccine

Gabriel Brown, Intercalating

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you will have seen the flip flopping and fanfare regarding the unvaccinated Novak Djokovic’s expulsion from Australia. However, the vaccine scepticism of the world tennis number one seems like one of many consecutive controversies regarding COVID and the sporting world. Are sportspeople reluctant to get vaccinated, and should COVID vaccination be mandatory to compete in elite sport?

In sports such as football, tennis, and basketball there are high profile examples of unvaccinated players. The question is, are these vaccine sceptics a loud minority, or do they reflect a systemic issue with vaccination in sport? According to the premier league—English football’s highest tier—84% of players have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. This appears high when compared to the equivalent cohort of the general population (16-29 year olds), where only around 60% have received their 1st dose. Additionally, 98% of British athletes who travelled to the Tokyo olympics received both doses before the games. British teams competing in other sports such as Formula 1, cycling, international cricket and rugby union have similarly impressive vaccination statistics, with almost 100% uptake rates, considerably higher than the general population. 

On the international stage, vocal alternative medicine proponents such as NFL player Aaron Rodgers and the poster boy for vaccine scepticism himself, Novak Djokovic, appear to be a disproportionately vociferous minority. According to the BBC, over 90% of NFL players, as well as over 95% of the top 100 male tennis players are double-vaccinated. 

Although it appears from these statistics that most of the major sporting world has been vaccinated against COVID-19, there is still a small but unprotected minority who are rejecting the vaccine. Dr Gavin Weedon, Senior Lecturer in Sport, Health and the Body at Nottingham Trent University states that conspiracy theories surrounding health are not unique to sport, and the unfounded views of those such as Novak Djokovic and Aaron Rodgers are just amplified by the platform that sport has given them. The spreading of misinformation is also seen in the sporting media. When Sheffield United’s John Fleck collapsed during a football game, pundits on the popular radio channel TalkSport were quick to associate the collapse with COVID vaccinations. 

As with all medical interventions, there are some legitimate risks associated with COVID vaccination. For example, vaccine-induced myocarditis or pericarditis is extremely rare, and is usually a mild presentation with a short recovery period. Additionally, there is no evidence to suggest that sport is a contributing risk factor. Moreover, Professor Jeffrey Morris, the director of biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania states that the cardiac inflammation from COVID-19 infection could be six times more likely than from a COVID vaccination. Additional research has found COVID vaccines in elite athletes to be well-tolerated, with few significant side effects. 

The discussion on COVID-19 vaccination is swamped with misinformation and conspiracy—sport is no exception. Examples such as Novak Djokovic might imply that vaccine scepticism is endemic in sport, however more of the sporting community is vaccinated than equivalent groups of the general population. According to a YouGov poll, 46% of respondents believe sportspeople should have to disclose their vaccine status, but with new plans to crackdown on unvaccinated athletes, vaccine-hesitant sportspeople may soon be excluded from competition, especially abroad. Vaccine scepticism is not unique to sport, nor is it more prevalent than in wider society; the public eye merely augments the controversial opinions of a small but loud minority. 

References

BBC 2022. Novak Djokovic: Australian Open vaccine exemption ignites backlash. BBC News. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-59876203#:~:text=Australians%20have%20reacted%20angrily%20to,by%20an%20expert%20independent%20panel.

BBC 2022. Covid vaccine: How many people are vaccinated in the UK?. BBC News. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55274833.

Conner, J. 2022. Should sportspeople have to be vaccinated against coronavirus in order to compete? | YouGov. Yougov.co.uk. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2022/01/10/should-sportspeople-have-be-vaccinated-against-cor.

Duarte, F. 2022. Covid-19 vaccine: Why are some athletes so reluctant to get the jab?. BBC News. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59958952.

Gov.uk 2022. Coronavirus.data.gov.uk. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations.

Hull, J., Schwellnus, M., Pyne, D. and Shah, A. 2021. COVID-19 vaccination in athletes: ready, set, go…. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 9(5), 455-456.

Hull, J., Wootten, M. and Ranson, C. 2022. Tolerability and impact of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in elite athletes. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 10(1), pp.e5-e6.

Ingle, S. 2021. Some GB Olympic athletes refusing Covid vaccine over side-effect fears. the Guardian. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jun/25/some-gb-olympic-athletes-still-refusing-to-have-covid-vaccine-boa-claims-athletics.

Majendie, M. 2022. Elite athletes, Covid chaos and vaccine hesitancy. Standard.co.uk. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/sports-covid-vaccine-tennis-premier-league-novak-djokovic-b971922.html.

Reuters 2022. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-coronavirus-sport-idUSL1N2SK160.

Rumsby, B. 2022. The sports Covid chaos brewing from the athletes who refuse to get vaccinated. The Telegraph. [Online]. [Accessed 1 February 2022]. Available from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2022/01/07/covid-unvaccinated-antivax-players-effect-sport-tennis-football/.