Pfizer deal will see Olympians get both jabs before Tokyo
TEAM GB’S bid to have all of their athletes fully vaccinated for the Tokyo Olympics has been boosted after the IOC struck a deal for a supply of Pfizer jabs. With 11 weeks to go before the Games, the British Olympic Association have asked the government if the usual 12-week gap between doses can be shortened for their stars otherwise most will go to Japan having had just one jab. But Team GB may now have a fall-back option after Pfizer-BioNTech offered donations of their vaccine for all athletes and support staff ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics. Meanwhile, UK Sport chief executive Sally Munday does not believe the athlete welfare scandals that have ripped through Britain’s Olympic programmes over the past five years will have any bearing on Team GB’s medal haul in Tokyo. There have been alarming reports into the treatment of athletes across gymnastics, swimming, cycling, rowing, canoeing, bobsleigh, archery and judo. Munday told Sportsmail: ‘Pre-Covid, performances in European and world events wouldn’t suggest that it is having a negative impact on the medal outcome. So I don’t think it will. ‘I have seen, like you, coaches thinking more deeply about how they do things and I think that is positive. ‘People are stopping and thinking: “How do I support this athlete to be the best they can be and how do I create that right environment?” It has been a good thing.’