PROLOGUE PERSPECTIVES
BACK IN THE REAL WORLD
DOCTOR ADRIAN ROTUNNO THE UAE EMIRATES TEAM DOCTOR ON THE COVID CHALLENGES IN SOUTH AFRICA
We’re at our first training camp of 2021 and 27 riders and 32 support staff have just been vaccinated with China’s Sinopharm vaccine. We know vaccinating elite athletes is a sensitive issue but UAE’s programme is ahead of most countries. Frontline workers and vulnerable individuals have had access to the vaccine for over three months.
With the roll-out of vaccines, we’ll hopefully see more races this season and more in their usual dates, though it’s difficult to predict. 2020 was tough for everyone. For me, as a South African, I had to stay in Europe for almost two-and-a-half months because of the compressed season. Travelling and being away in a normal year is difficult but I’m rarely gone for longer than two weeks. With two young children and a wife, it was hard.