Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira confirms he’s double vaccinated against Covid-19 but won’t force players

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira says he’s taken his Covid-19 vaccine but maintained the topic of getting the jab should be an individual choice.

Covid-19 vaccination is a trending topic for players, managers and football fans after Tottenhamhad their games against Rennes and Brighton called off due to rising cases in their team.

Their manager Antonio Conte this week revealed he was “a bit scared” after players and staff continued to test positive at their training ground in Enfield, north London.

London has become the hotspot for the ravaging ultra-transmissible Omicron Covid variant which has led to the Premier League passing a rule that will require fans to show proof of vaccination or a negative test within the last 48 hours to gain access to a football stadium.

Vieira, who will see his team take on Everton on Sunday, says he is aware of how the virus has affected the quality of life and he is one of the managers who has taken the vaccine.

He said: “It’s not my place to talk about what should be mandatory or not.

“There’s a process we have to follow and we all are going to follow them.

“There are specialists who will say if it has to be mandatory or not to have the vaccine and I have the double vaccination and I strongly believe we have to have it.

“We are quite strong on the protocols that the medical staff put in place, and we are really demanding on the players to be disciplined and to think about how they live their lives outside of training.

“Everything is in place to hear to follow what we’re doing. Outside of that, we ask them, we spend time talking to them.”

The Palace manager also revealed impressive young defender Joachim Andersen who has missed the last three games was back in team training as earlier reported by LondonWorld, and is in contention to play a part on Sunday.

“The team news is that Joachim has been training with the team for the past few days and Eze and Nathan are doing well,” Vieira told the press ahead of Sunday’s game at Selhurst.

There was however less favourable news when it came to midfield powerhouse James McArthur who has been a huge miss for the Eagles after picking up a knock.

Crystal Palace have failed to win a game since his injury and Vieira confirmed the game against Everton would come too soon for him.

He added: "James is feeling better he started doing some individual training on the field and this morning he took part in the first 15-20 minutes of training session, he won’t be involved on Sunday."