Team GB bids for fast-track vaccinations
THE British Olympic Association are in talks with the UK Government about getting their athletes vaccinated before the Olympics in July.
International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound said yesterday that athletes should be given priority access to Covid-19 vaccines in order for the rescheduled Tokyo Games to go ahead as planned.
And BOA chief executive Andy Anson also wants the vaccine to be rolled out to Team GB’s 380- strong squad as soon as possible — but only after the country’s most vulnerable people have had the jab.
Anson said: ‘ They won’t get priority access now because I think everyone — athletes included — would agree that the priority is the people who need it most.
‘There will come a time, hopefully in late spring or summer ahead of the Olympic Games, when t he athletes can be vaccinated. We’ll do that when it’s appropriate and when the government feels it’s appropriate.
‘We’re having conversations, but more about (that) when the time is right.’
Olympic Games organisers have previously stated that they will not make the vaccine mandatory for athletes, but Pound, who is the longest- serving member of the IOC, thinks it will be essential.
The Canadian told Sky News yesterday: ‘In Canada, where we might have 300 or 400 athletes, to take 300 or 400 vaccines out of several million in order to have Canada represented at an international event of this stature, this character and this level, I don’t think there would be any kind of a public outcry about that.
‘It’s a decision for each country to make and there will be people saying that they are jumping the queue — but I think that is the most realistic way of it going ahead.’
In response to Pound’s comments, David Shoemaker, chief of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said: ‘ We cannot assume that vaccines will be widely available, how they will be distributed or when they will be available for Canadian athletes.
‘We fully expect that front line workers and vulnerable individuals will be the priority and that Team Canada’s access to vaccines will be dependent on a number of considerations, including the laws governing entry to Japan in the summer.’
Japan’s Prime Minster Yoshihide Suga and IOC president Thomas Bach both insisted last week that the Olympics will definitely take place this summer.
But a spike in coronavirus cases in Tokyo — which is on the brink of going into a state of emergency — has put the Games under renewed doubt, particularly with regards to the attendance of overseas spectators.
As f or t he British t eam’s preparations f or t he Tokyo Games, Anson added: ‘I’m telling athletes: “It’s going ahead, you should train as hard as you possibly can and be in the best possible shape to go out there and be part of this amazing celebration”.
‘They have got to assume that it’s happening and every message is that it’s going to happen, but we’ve got to get through these tough times first.’