Flu vaccinations will be encouraged but not mandatory under Rugby Australia's return to play plans.
Rugby Australia chief medical officer Warren McDonald spoke to every Super Rugby club on Monday ahead of their return to training in small groups this week and next, detailing the expectations on players as they push to get back to playing.
Rugby Australia is still awaiting final approval from the Queensland government's chief medical officer Jeanette Young and French said the final stages of that discussion were expected to be finished on Tuesday.
That approval could hinge on their vaccination policy after Queensland's "no jab no play' policy saw two NRL players stood down for refusing to have a flu injection last week.
Rugby Australia and its Super Rugby teams all conduct flu injections annually and McDonald said many players and staff had already had theirs.
"It's offered to the players every year, we strongly recommend its use and this year obviously the recommendation from the government from the Chief Medical Officer of Australia was to get everyone to have the flu vaccine and several of our programs had already started on that process or had undertaken that process earlier in the season.
"We're just continuing down that process. We have not made it mandatory but very, very strongly recommended that every player should do that.
"We’ve always recommended the flu shot every year so we haven’t mandated it in this situation."
"The vast majority of our players will take it or have had it already and the vast majority of our staff."
The Brumbies and Waratahs will return to training in groups of 10 on Tuesday in the first stage of a graded progression back to full training and ultimately playing.
Players will only be able to do non-contact training for the next fortnight, with their small groups able to engage in contact drills from May 25.
Pending government restrictions, it is hoped that teams will be back to normal training from June 8 with four weeks of that before a July domestic Super Rugby return.
Clubs will also have to keep a record of everyone who comes in and out of their facilities during this period and McDonald urged players to be responsible when it came to their own health and also those around them.
McDonald also said a potential positive test wouldn't necessarily halt plans for the competition, instead managing those situations on an individual basis.
"Each case will be managed individually and that will involve me and it will also involve the team doctor as to how that works and how do we follow up contacts, how do we decide who should be followed, who should not be followed up," he said.
"That's all in collaboration with the public health authorities and we'll be guided by their advice and then we will take it one step at a time.
"On the other side of anyone who tests positive, as you are all aware i'm sure the vast majority of people who end up having a positive diagnosis of COVID end up being treated out of hospital so they can be managed in isolation in their home in the majority of cases and that's what we would hope in the cast majority of anything that happens in our sport but then how do we reintroduce that player back into the environment or that staff member back into the environment when they've recovered.
"These are processes that we'll take on an individual basis.
Players will generally be able to play out of their homes, with those who have front line workers in their home encouraged to be more mindful of the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
McDonald said plans were being considered for charter flights to be used for games, something that New Zealand Rugby will be doing for its teams after their competition kicks off in June.
While no professional players have had positive tests, McDonald said they had learned a simple lesson from the positive test recorded by a Sydney Uni player in March's Australian Club Championship.
While no opposition players contracted the disease, a fellow player tested positive and more than 100 people urged to self-isolate after attending a post-match function.
"I watched that situation closely, I was involved in situation from the medical management side of things," McDonald said.
"There was some risks to other players as you probably are aware.
"We are mindful that being in such close quarters, things like scrums so something we need to be mindful of in our sport in particular.
"Having said that, we're not sure that any spread from that game was purely related to the game.
"There were some social activities that happened later that potentially caused presented a risk as well. Hence the emphasis we've got on training and playing is get in, train, play if you like, and get out."
