All ParalympicsGB athletes expected to be jabbed

THE British Paralympic Association expects all British athletes travelling to Beijing 2022 to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and has warned the team cannot be “complacent” in dealing with the virus.

Between 20 and 25 ParalympicsGB athletes are forecast to fly to China’s capital for the Winter Games, which run from March 4-13.

Chef de mission Phil Smith, who was deputy to Penny Briscoe for last year’s rescheduled summer Paralympics in Tokyo, anticipates most of the British delegation – around 65 to 70 people in total – will also have received a booster injection prior to departure.

“It’s not the most straightforward Games to deliver, it’s fair to say,” Smith told the PA news agency.

“But I think the experience that certainly I and others in our team gained in Tokyo in similar circumstances over the summer stands us in pretty good stead for what we have to face in a couple of months’ time.

“It’s definitely reassuring that we got all 226 athletes to Tokyo and none of them missed being on the start line due to Covid.”

A five-strong wheelchair curling squad of Gregor Ewan, Hugh Nibloe, David Melrose, Meggan Dawson-Farrell and Charlotte McKenna on Tuesday became

ParalympicsGB’s first confirmed participants.

Logistical preparations for the Games have been further complicated by the staging of the rearranged 2021 World Championships from January 8-23 in Lillehammer, Norway.

Team leader Smith said: “It’s definitely not what anyone would have chosen at this stage, as much from a performance perspective as anything else.”