Athletes qualified for Olympics and SEA Games to receive vaccine this Friday

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

Tokyo Olympics and Vietnam Southeast Asian Games bound athletes will finally receive their dose of the COVID-19 vaccine this Friday.

According to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, all Filipino athletes who will fly to Vietnam and Japan will be getting their vaccines at Manila Prince Hotel.

The move came after SEA Games organizers confirmed that they will not allow participating athletes to enter premises and to join their respective sport without having the vaccine.

“Alam natin na inaprubahan na po yung prioritization ng vaccination ng Olympic-bound at SEA Games-bound delegates ng IATF. Ang good news po ngayon ay inaprubahan na rin po ang ating vaccination day sa Friday exclusive for Olympic-bound delegates and SEA Games-bound delegates,” said Tolentino.

Those who will be present at Manila Prince Hotel this Friday are Chief Implementer of the National Task Force against COVID-19 Carlito Galvez and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

A rough estimate of 600 athletes and coaches are expected to get inoculated and will be verified by the respective National Sports Associations (NSA) of the country.

As of now, there are nine qualified athletes for Tokyo confirmed while the SEA Games participants are yet to have a final list.