A total of 82 residents of PBSI’s (Indonesia) national training centre, including athletes, coaches and support staff, were given the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine yesterday at the Istora Senayan stadium in Jakarta.
If every other country follows with vaccination of its players, will it bring a big change to international badminton? Will it make it easier to organise tournaments?
Opinion on vaccination among the players is divided at the moment.
Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen is skeptical and does not want to take the vaccine. He says there is not enough research and there are reports of side effects as well.
Chou said, “Are you willing to take the risk (of side effects) before you prepare for a competition that takes place only once every four years?”
He also believes that it should be a player’s personal wish whether or not to take the vaccine.
In contrast to Chou’s skepticism, Indonesian players welcomed the administration of vaccines before departing for the Swiss Open and the All England. It’s very early, but there has been no reports of negative effects from the vaccines on the players.
“It’s like being bitten by an ant. Yes, like a regular injection. I hope that the Covid pandemic will quickly disappear, so that we can return to our normal activities.
“After being vaccinated, we feel calmer, but we still have to maintain health protocols,” said Melati Daeva Oktavianti.
Jonatan Christie, who had a very disappointing outing in Thailand, welcomed the vaccine and said, “With this vaccine, we are much more focused on competing, because previously we were afraid of whether we would be Covid positive or negative.” He also recently lost his brother to Covid-19.
Let’s take a look at the efficacy of the vaccines currently available. Reports by Johns Hopkins indicate that the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna shows 95% efficacy in preventing both mild and severe viral symptoms. It applies across all age groups, races and ethnicities and both genders.
The most commonly reported side effects from the vaccine are mild fever and some headache, which typically disappear after a few days.
In the end, vaccination is an effort made to bring life and consequently badminton back to normal. If the majority of the players take the vaccine, it can highly reduce the risk of infection during a tournament, especially with the addition of strict protocols by the organizers.
