There is movement in the vaccination debate at FC Bayern! With Serge Gnabry and Jamal Musiala , two of the last five still unvaccinated professionals have now been vaccinated.
This leaves Joshua Kimmich, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Michael Cuisance, with Kimmich and Cuisance seriously considering vaccination, according to information from Bild. Read the background here as to why Musiala has now decided to do so.
Did Musiala initially follow the official recommendation of the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO), which until August had deemed vaccination unnecessary for children and young people under the age of 18 because the risk of severe COVID courses was considered low. Remember: Musiala came of age on 26 February. Also, he would have still been last in the spring and summer according to the order of urgency.
Fears and uncertainty among the players
Fears and insecurity among some players were also said to have contributed to the hesitation. In addition to vaccination breakthroughs, heart problems were also cited by the players as reasons. Sergio Aguero, for example, is facing the end of his career (FC Barcelona). The case of Christian Eriksen, who collapsed at the European Championship, is also said to have played a role. According to Musiala, every top athlete is aware that his own body is his capital. It’s about goals and dreams and a healthy body, which is needed for top performances at world-class level. Every extra percent of performance can be a decisive factor. For very young players in particular, it’s a matter of weighing up the pros and cons: Infection and, in the worst case, Long Covid – which is extremely rare in very young people – versus the dangers of possible vaccination side effects and resulting problems.
Musiala sought several medical opinions
Musiala decided to vaccinate after this weighing process. To do so, he sought several medical opinions, including from national team doctor Prof. Dr. Tim Meyer and from Bayern’s team doctor Prof. Dr. Roland Schmidt. He also consulted other doctors and experts in immunology and functional medicine who look after top athletes as well as patients with long covid and vaccine damage.
When the STIKO extended its vaccination recommendation to the age group of twelve to 17-year-olds in the late summer of 2021, 18-year-old Musiala also thought about getting vaccinated. But now there was a time problem, the season was already running at that point. A vaccination during the season would have meant a break. To this end, Meyer and doctor colleagues recently issued a joint letter of recommendation from the DFL and DFB to Bundesliga players who were still undecided or not fully vaccinated. The content: They should please reconsider their individual vaccination decision during the winter break. This amounted to a clear recommendation to do it during this period. In the letter, Meyer and colleagues clearly advised against vaccination in high-performance phases before the winter break. A problem for players like Musiala and Gnabry, but not one exclusive to FC Bayern, as the example of Karim Adeyemi (FC Salzburg) shows.
Will Kimmich and Cuisance and also Choupo-Moting now follow suit?
Musiala received the first vaccination from one of FC Bayern’s team doctors, and Gnabry is said to be the same. The big question: Will Kimmich and Cuisance and also Choupo-Moting follow suit? The pressure on this trio is likely to increase, and they are also threatened with a kind of permanent quarantine loop – every time they have had contact with an infected person as unvaccinated. Gnabry and Musiala will soon no longer have to worry about this: The difference: while one shot was enough for Gnabry because of a previous COVID infection and he is considered fully vaccinated after two weeks, Musiala needs a second vaccination, presumably during the winter break. This would mean that the 18-year-old would be fully vaccinated for the start of the second half of the season.
