A month and a half to vaccinate players, coaches and referees.
The 50,000 doses of the Chinese anti-Covid vaccine Sinovac, intended to immunize participants in the Copa América (June 13-July 10), arrived in Uruguay on Wednesday.
The doses offered by the company Sinovac Biotech will "guarantee the safety of the protagonists of the Copa América", welcomed the president of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) Alejandro Dominguez, present in an airport near Montevideo in the arrival of the flight carrying the vaccine.
This order is particularly intended for the hundreds of players playing in clubs on the South American continent.
Argentina star Lionel Messi helped secure the donation, gifting three signed jerseys to Sinovac executives.
Al anunciar las 50,000 dosis de vacuna para @CONMEBOL, quiero contarles que los directivos de @Sinovac manifestaron su admiración por Lionel Messi, quién con toda predisposición nos envió 3 camisetas para ellos.
Así que el también es parte de este logro !! # Elfutbolsalvaalfutbol pic.twitter.com/E5gudJ1RR8
- Gonzalo Belloso (@ GonzaloBelloso7) April 13, 2021
The vaccines "will not replace in any way the health protocol", however, warned the Paraguayan.
Also present at Carrasco airport, Chinese Ambassador to Uruguay Wang Gang estimated that there would be "a before and an after (delivery) in relations between China and Conmebol in general, and between the China and the Copa América in particular ”.
Vaccine refractory neither penalized nor excluded
The distribution of doses to the various associations will begin "immediately" and the vaccination campaign will be completed before the start of the Copa América, co-organized by Argentina and Colombia, had recently informed the Conmebol.
The doses will be administered as a priority to the players and their staff, before being injected to the referees and the staff in charge of the organization. "Players who choose not to be vaccinated will not be penalized or excluded from competitions" of the Conmebol, assured the instance.