Kicking covid

摘要

FOOTBALL FANS are used to moments of magic from Lionel Messi. Earlier this month the Argentine forward produced yet another clinical finish-this time off the pitch. On April 13th Mr Messi helped to score 50,000 vaccines for Conmebol, the South American football confederation, after sending three signed shirts to Sino-vac, a Chinese pharmaceutical company. Conmebol says its goal is to jab all professional players ahead of the Copa America tournament this summer. But the ball is not in the back of the net just yet. For one thing, five of the confederation's ten members, including Argentina, a co-host of the tournament, have yet to approve the use of the Sinovac vaccine. Mr Messi's is not the only attempt to win footballers early jabs. In Mexico 19 players from Rayados, a team in Monterrey, flew to Dallas to get injected this month. Several from its local rivals, Tigres, also crossed the border to get an appointment. The Mexican government promised to vaccinate the men's and women's football teams and their staff if they qualified for the Olympics (only the men did so). In Brazil Athletico Paranaense is not only pledging vaccines for its players and staff, but for its entire paying fan base. Many clubs have lost members, says Andrew Downie, a sports journalist (who has occasionally written for The Economist). The jabs are a way of enticing back fans.