Shane McGrath

Jabs for athletes over those most in need? It simply will not wash...

HAVING dodged potential calamities involving the vaccination plan, the Government are terrified of walking into one now, just as normality begins to steal back into our lives. The near-unanimous public disgust at revelations around the Beacon Hospital and other grubby instances of the roll-out schedule being ignored or manipulated, proved that nothing matters more in Ireland now than the safe, quick, and efficient administration of jabs.

There was an obvious instance of kite-flying this weekend when a suggested adjustment to the current rota, by which the 18-30 agegroup would be moved up, brought quick and fierce criticism via a slew of channels, from social media platforms to radio phone-ins.

The logic informing any such move – that this age group are more likely to socialise and therefore spread the virus, so head off that risk by vaccinating them – melted when subjected to the righteous fury of a population worn down to a nub.

If the Government were to push ahead with such a plan – and the chances of that must have receded since yesterday morning – it would benefit not only a cohort that will go on the lash and hang the consequences, but also Olympic athletes.

The majority of the eventual Irish team that goes to Tokyo will be in that age bracket, and the delicate subject of their vaccination status could have been addressed by any promotion of Generation Z in the priority list.

If that doesn’t materialise, then it seems unlikely that Olympians, prospective or confirmed, will be treated differently to any other citizen. This was confirmed by comments made by Jack Chambers, the Minister of State for Sport, and this is a stance that reflects how sensitive the issue of vaccinations has become.

This is with good reason, too, given that the quick and fair distribution

of them is the only way out of these suffocating days.

People will tolerate an enormous amount if they are being treated fairly, and that was shown by the immediate acceptance of a switch to an age-based system of distribution.

It brought predictable whines from the inevitable pressure groups, but the science informing the change was clearly explained.

However, ring-fencing even a small group of athletes and associated support staff for vaccine preference risks upsetting the public, and that is not a risk this Government will take. This is despite there being a persuasive case to do so.

This idea was ill-advised when mooted in January. Dick Pound, a veteran Olympic official, espoused it, but this was in the very early stages of the global vaccination effort, and when large tracts of the world were being consumed by a fresh wave of infections.

The outlook has substantially changed since then, and this week New Zealand started vaccinating athletes who have qualified for the Games, or who are continuing their efforts to do so.

This was after their government designated them involved in an area of national significance, and so they were prioritised.

Elite athletes competing in global sports need to travel, and qualification events for the Olympics will require some to do so extensively.

And with the vaccine programme accelerating – after a slow start, and with the risk of further stalls possible if not probable – then scope for prioritising a very narrowly defined band of athletes and support staff could appear in time.

But that could only happen in a way that wouldn’t spark outrage after the majority of the population had received jabs, and after the reopening of the businesses that have been closed for over a year.

Granting preferential treatment to any group, beyond the vulnerable, the elderly and front-line workers, simply will not wash – and political antennae are attuned to that reality.

The International Olympic Committee have repeatedly said that vaccination will not be a condition of competing at the Olympics in Tokyo, while the exemption from hotel quarantine for elite athletes announced in recent days should mitigate the complications facing athletes who have to travel outside Ireland for qualification competitions.

There is another very good reason why preferment should not be extended to any one group of sportspeople in Ireland, of course.

Were Olympians favoured, it would only be a matter of hours before the great force of GAA punditry would speak as one, praising the warriors who give their time freely and perform deeds of athletic heroism that are the match of any Olympic exertion.

Is it right, the punditocracy would thunder, that these heroes are not prioritised for a jab, too?

Nobody needs another eruption of GAA indignation.