IOC plans to vaccinate athletes to save Games
Trying to host the largest sporting event in the Trying to host the largest sporting event in the world was impossible in 2020. So the International Olympic Committee has a new plan to ensure the games go on as re-scheduled in 2021: vaccinate everyone.
Organizers are trying to work with the World Health Organization to get all Olympians planning to participate in the 2021 Tokyo games vaccinated to try to save the summer games from total cancellation, according The
Telegraph, which reported the news on Friday.
The Tokyo games are still scheduled to start July 23 in the Japanese capital. Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the upcoming summer games are still expected to attract several thousand athletes from more than 200 nations to the Asian country for a chance at Olympic glory.
The glaring issue, however, with the IOC making coronavirus vaccinations a priority for a 16-day event scheduled for six months from now? Having a non-priority group skip the international line for vaccines doled out in already limited quantities. Athletes in top physical health, by all accounts, including the WHO’s, should not be given priority for a COVID-19 vaccine over the most vulnerable populations around the world.
The IOC, however, does not intend to have athletes line cut, according to the report. But the safety of non-essential athletes, should be a priority, considering what holding an international sports event with competitors from around the world could look like without vaccinations — the Australian Opens’ 72 tennis players who needed to quarantine in Melbourne after learning some passengers (players and non-players) on two flights tested positive for the virus.
The worldwide supply of coronavirus vaccine is finite until more is made. Even though every country wants to vaccinate its population, and the companies making the vaccines plan to make enough for everyone to get vaccinated, it all simply can’t happen at once. Wealthier countries have been able to purchase more doses of vaccines from providers like Pfizer and Moderna as they are made, while others have not.