Cricket-Australia's players to be fully vaccinated by end November

All professional cricketers in Australia have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and all will be fully vaccinated by the end of the month, Cricket Australia Chief Executive Nick Hockley said.

All professional cricketers in Australia have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and all will be fully vaccinated by the end of the month, Cricket Australia Chief Executive Nick Hockley said. Players on national contracts were fully vaccinated by September, while 97% of domestic players had received a second dose of the vaccine.

"Everyone is showing great leadership," Hockley told AAP. "We are 100% fully vaccinated for both doses male and female international players. And then we are at 100% first dose for our domestic playing group. "There has been a big education program, our medical advisors have run workshop sessions for staff and players. It's symptomatic of the whole last 18 months."

Hockley was thankful they did not have to introduce vaccine mandates for players and that the idea was "almost irrelevant" due to the vaccination rate. Australian Cricketers Association Chief Executive Todd Greenberg said he was proud of the players, who "clearly understood their responsibility".

Australia has seen frequent anti-vaccine rallies during the past few months, but nearly 90% of eligible people have been fully vaccinated in the most populous state of New South Wales, and almost 95% in the capital Canberra. Victoria was the first state to introduce vaccine mandates https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australian-state-makes-covid-19-vaccination-mandatory-athletes-2021-10-01 for athletes in October. The state is home to dozens of professional soccer, cricket, Australian Rules and rugby teams, and its capital Melbourne hosts the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam.

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