CENTRAL Dabaris players and their coaching staff have undergone vaccination today to protect them from Corona Virus before taking part in the Digicel Cup season 2021 competition.
From a total of 29 men squad, 27 players decided to take the jab today at Edai Town outside Port Moresby as they continue their preparations for the Digicel Cup competition.
Digicel Cup which was supposed to commence on May 8 did not eventuate because two players from a franchise team tested positive with Covid-19. The competition was postponed to another three weeks.
Some players were scared and uncertain whether to take the vaccine or not. However, with the awareness and close consultations with the team doctor and the coaching staff, the players made up their individual choices to take the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
Dabaris Head Coach Gairo Pepena told The PNG Bulletin that the club spent a lot of money and effort in preparation for this season, and voluntarily taking the vaccine is one thing they are doing to help get the competition going.
“My franchise spent nearly half a million kina for the preseason training and we do not want the competition to be called off again.
“We were not forced to take vaccine. We had a couple of awareness seasons with our club doctors before we decided to take the vaccine,” Pepena said.
He said it is not really easy for them to be convinced to take the vaccine, however they decided to take the vaccine and allow the competition to start.
“If half of our team does not get vaccinated than we will be released from the PNGNRL. It is a bit unfair but as a team each player gets paid for playing rugby in the competition,” Taumu said.
After the vaccination process the team will have their trainings put on hold for them to recover from the effects of the vaccine. They will resume on May 17 as they look forward for Digicel Cup season 2021 competition.
