Vaccination and the Olympic Games

Can Romanian athletes compete in the Olympic Games unless they are vaccinated?

Daniela Budu, 02.03.2021, 14:00

The head of the Romanian Olympic
Committee, Mihai Covaliu, on Monday said that anti-Covid vaccination is not
compulsory for athletes attending the Olympic Games hosted by Japan this year.
As we all know vaccination is in full swing now but this condition is not mandatory
for those who participate in the Olympic Games and things are extremely clear
from this point of view – the Romanian official said.

According to him, there are 59
Romanian athletes qualified for the competition but Covaliu expects this number
to double. We are waiting for the results obtained by our women handballers, and
other athletes from fencing, wrestling, judo, tennis and gymnastics…there are
sports federations which can still have athletes to qualify, Covaliu went on
to say. The Romanian official hopes for our delegation to walk away with 6-8
medals from the competition in Japan unlike the national Olympic federations,
which estimated 13-14 medals. Covaliu explained that the vaccination process is
done in keeping with the competitions schedules and is carried out in a planned
and controlled manner.

Athletes in the national teams have
been included in the second vaccination stage after the Romanian Olympic and
Sports Committee struck a deal with the Cantacuzino Institute in Bucharest. In
another development, athletes who are to attend the Olympics in Tokyo and who
aren’t vaccinated will have to face ‘extremely difficult conditions’, officials
from France’s National Olympic and Sports Committee cautioned in January.

In turn, representatives of the organisation committee of the
Tokyo Olympics, have shown moderated optimism concerning the anti-Covid
vaccination at world level, which could lead to the good functioning of the
world’s most prestigious sporting event. A recent survey carried out by a local
company shows that 80% of the Japanese would like the Games to be postponed
again or cancelled. Committee officials have voiced hope the situation will
improve following all the measures implemented. They reiterated that Japanese
organizers and officials aren’t considering any delay or cancellation. The
Olympic Games organisation committee has constantly underlined that athletes’
safety comes first and have come up with a series of measures aimed at
achieving this goal, such as social distancing in the Olympic campus and
rigorous testing.

The about 15 thousand participants in the event will not have to
stay quarantined for two weeks as it happened with athletes participating in
the Australian Open. We recall the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the
postponement of the Olympic Games for the period between 23rd July -
8th August 2021. They were initially scheduled for July and August
last year.

(bill)