EFL: A quarter of players not intending to get Covid-19 vaccine as more games postponed

League One Gillingham have been forced to close their Priestfield Stadium to the public because of Covid-19 cases among club staff

The English Football League says a quarter of players at its member clubs "do not intend to get a vaccine" against Covid-19.

It follows the postponement of more fixtures scheduled to be played on Saturday across all three divisions.

Updated guidance on the minimum number of available players required to fulfil a fixture has also been passed on.

Clubs will be expected to play a fixture where they have 14 players, including a goalkeeper, available from the their registered squad list.

Vaccine data collected by the EFL in November showed 75% of players were either fully vaccinated, had had a single jab or intended to be vaccinated.

Double-vaccinated players totalled 59%, with 16% set to get either a second or first jab at the time.

In September, 49% of players in the EFL were double vaccinated, which was up from 18% the previous month.

The EFL's medical adviser, Dr Richard Higgins stressed they are continuing to "strongly encourage players and staff at clubs to get fully vaccinated and obtain a booster jab if eligible to do so".

He added: "We know getting double jabbed and boosted now will reduce the risk of getting seriously ill or dying from Covid-19, reduce the risk of catching or spreading Covid-19 amongst team-mates and loved ones, while helping protect against variants including Omicron."

As fixture postponements have increased over the past week, the EFL has also confirmed all 72 clubs will need to implement their set of "red" protocols to try to mitigate the spread of infection in first-team training facilities.

More to follow.

Saturday's postponed EFL matches

Championship

Cardiff City v Derby County

Coventry City v Stoke City

Millwall v Preston

QPR v Swansea City

Reading v Luton Town

League One

Bolton Wanderers v Wycombe Wanderers

Gillingham v Crewe Alexandra

Lincoln City v Doncaster Rovers

Sheffield Wednesday v Accrington Stanley

League Two

Crawley Town v Oldham Athletic

Northampton Town v Barrow

Swindon Town v Walsall

• Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - follow your team and sign up for notifications in the BBC Sport app to make sure you never miss a moment