Our attention has been drawn to excerpts of a television interview in the local media which did not capture the complete status of the ongoing COVID19 vaccination program for rugby athletes. We wish to issue a comprehensive update on the vaccination program as follows:
(i) The KRU is part of the ongoing athletes’ vaccination program at Kasarani stadium that has been organized by the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage (MOSCH) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Nairobi Metropolitan Services.
(ii) The first batch of 90 rugby players who are provisional members of the Chipu (Kenya U20 squad) and Simbas (Kenya Senior Men Team) received their vaccines on Thursday 8th April 2021.
(iii) The Lionesses (Kenya 7s Women Team) and Shujaa (Kenya 7s Men Team) returned to the country from international assignment on Saturday 10th April 2021 which was part of their preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games. The players of these teams will be vaccinated on 13th April 2021.
(iv) For players in the top division of the Men and Women league, their vaccination is tentatively scheduled for 14th April 2021.
(v) The KRU is working with clubs who are based outside Nairobi to roll out similar program for non-Nairobi based players working closely with the county governments in the respective local jurisdiction.
We wish to apologize unreservedly to the Cabinet Secretary Amb. (Dr) Amina Mohamed and the staff of the Ministry for the unintended adverse perception created by the edited interview to the effect that MOSCH was not supportive of the KRU.
The KRU affirms and appreciates the solid support it has received from the MOSCH as part of the Return to Play Protocol in this very challenging environment as well as the continuous facilitation of our national teams’ preparations for
(i) the Olympics and
(ii) international events such as the Barthes Cup and the Rugby World Cup qualifiers.
Oduor Gangla
Chairman
Kenya Rugby Union
