Premier League clubs fear that mass postponements of matches could lead to another shutdown due to the spike in the cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, SportsMail reports.
On Monday night, the league confirmed 42 positive tests. That is the most ever recorded in a single week.
At least five clubs have confirmed cases, including Manchester United whose fixture at Brentford on Tuesday night has now been postponed.
The clubs’ worries have been exacerbated by the slow pace of their vaccination programmes. This has left most players facing a long wait to receive the booster jab, after research showed that two jabs offer little immunity against Omicron.
Wolves are the only top-flight club set to meet UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s target of boosting all over-18s by the end of the month. Leeds and Brentford are also understood to be well advanced.
Many players at the other clubs face a long wait, as the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is still insisting on a three-month gap between second and third vaccine doses.
The Premier League’s vaccine data is a closely guarded secret, but the last information they published on October 19 stated that 68 per cent of players were fully vaccinated.
