Administration Sen. Francis Tolentino on Sunday urged the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to include Filipino athletes as essential workers in the government’s priority list to be vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus disease.
Tolentino made the remarks as both amateur and professional athletes remain excluded in the A4 priority group in the government’s vaccine rollout amid the upcoming Tokyo Olympics this July and the 2021 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Hanoi, Vietnam later in November.
The Tokyo Olympics was originally scheduled in the summer of 2020, but the Japanese government decided to postpone it for a year, amid the withdrawal of some participating countries in the famous sporting event due to outbreak of the coronavirus.
A total of 82 Filipino athletes from 19 sports are currently seeking Olympic spots in Tokyo.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Thursday that it will provide vaccines to those Olympians who wanted to be inoculated upon their arrival in Tokyo, but the Japanese government made it clear that having a COVID-19 vaccine is not a requirement or prerequisite for athletes for them to be allowed to participate in the summer Olympics.
But considering the present circumstances, especially that the Philippines is one of the Asian countries barred from entering Japan due to the spike in local COVID-19 infections, Tolentino stressed that it would be better if all those Filipino athletes qualified in the Tokyo games must be inoculated with anti-COVID shots as soon as possible, to prevent any delays in participating on the sports spectacle.
Aside from Japan, Vietnam, where the 31st SEA Games is set to take place in November, remains closed to any foreign nationals until further notice.
The country will be sending a total of 626 athletes—competing in 39 of 40 sports—in the Hanoi games, which is scheduled from November 21 to December 2.
Meanwhile, Tolentino added that professional athletes, like those in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and other professional leagues, regardless of sports should be likewise be included in the A4 Priority of IATF.
The IATF earlier approved the PBA’s request to hold full practices and scrimmages in areas placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and Modified GCQ. (JCC)
Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)
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