PBA family now 95% vaccinated, hopeful for July opening for Season 46

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is hopeful in getting the government's nod to open Season 46 this month now that close to everyone in the league has been fully vaccinated.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial bared that around 95-percent of the PBA family has received two doses of their anti-COVID-19 jabs while the remaining five percent is now awaiting their second dose.

Those who have been fully vaccinated include players, coaches, team managers, referees, and league employees.

"This week, we are already 95-percent fully vaccinated and some are just awaiting their shots but we are positive we can reach the 100-percent after a few days," Marcial said in Filipino in in interview with GMA News Online.

"The vaccines brands varied, some got AstraZeneca while most of them was vaccinated with Sinovac."

Marcial said this is a welcome development for the league as they are now set to secure the green light from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to start the games this July.

He will meet with the IATF officers within this week and will present the blueprint they will use for the closed-circuit format. Part of his presentation would also be the success they had during the staging of the 2020 Philippine Cup in a bubble in Clark.

Marcial also said he will lay down before the task force the ongoing scrimmages of the 12 ball clubs in different provinces which he said has been going smoothly so far.

"This week, Wednesday or Thursday, I'll report to IATF in order to start the season. We're confident because as you all know, we had great success in the previous bubble," he said.

"We are really hopeful to open this July and we're still targeting to feature two conferences until January."

—JMB, GMA News