TOKYO Olympics-bound rower Cris Nievarez led the early bird athletes and coaches who got their first dose of anti-Covid-19 vaccines on Friday at the Prince Hotel-turned-vaccine center in Malate, Manila.
“I can now train with protection and more confidence,” said the 21-year-old Nievarez, whose Coach Edgardo Maerina also got vaccinated. “I didn’t hesitate to get vaccinated because I believe it’s for my safety and the safety of everyone.
A total of 730 athletes and para athletes and coaches registered for the vaccination campaign sought by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and in cooperation with the City of Manila.
As of noon, close to half of those who registered were inoculated with Sinovac vaccines. They will get their second dose after 28 days.
“We are very thankful to the national government for allowing our national athletes to get vaccinated,” POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said. “It’s a sigh of relief for all of us.”
The government’s response to Tolentino’s call to prioritize athletes for vaccination was swift. He wrote the IATF through Health Secretary Francisco Duque III Tuesday last week and exactly a week after that only last Tuesday, the IATF gave its approval and scheduled Friday’s mass inoculation.
On Friday, the Malate hotel was a bevy of vaccination activity.
Athletes bound for the Hanoi 31st Southeast Asian Games set in November came one after the other. Those in canoe kayak, badminton, shooting, golf, sepak takraw, triathlon, athletics, fin swimming, skateboarding, handball, tennis, cycling, archery and rowing got their shots before noon.
In the afternoon, it was the turn of athletes in pencak silat, muay, judo, bodybuilding, wrestling, eSports, fencing, chess, billiards, kickboxing, jiu jitsu, table tennis, wushu, bowling, dancesports, gymnastics, karate, kurash and para athletes.
Members of the men’s basketball team under the Gilas cadet program traveled from their training camp in Calamba to also get their shots.
The inoculations were swift and systematic, proof that the City of Manila has mastered the procedure.
Taekwondo qualifier Kurt Bryan Barbosa didn’t get his first dose as he was still completing his quarantine at a Taguig City hotel.
Covid-19 testing czar Vince Dizon and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno graced the proceedings, along with Philippine Sports Commission Commissioner Charles Maxey and gymnastics association head Cynthia Carrion-Norton.
“We are thankful to the City of Manila, to Mayor Isko [Moreno], for allowing us to use the Manila Prince Hotel [under Manila’s Barangay 719] for the inoculation of our national athletes,” Dizon told the well-attended press conference.
Carrion-Norton told the press conference that Olympic gymnast Carlos Yulo won’t be vaccinated with an anti-Covid-19 shot.
But Tolentino was unperturbed.
“As long as his performance in the Olympics will not be affected and he can win the gold, that’s not a problem,” Tolentino said.
Jaja Santiago and the national women’s volleyball team members—all clad in either red or blue PPE-like training suits—also got their first dose of the vaccine.
Formal face-to-face training for the SEA Games where Vietnam will be enforcing a “no vaccine, no participation policy,” is expected to go full swing on July 1.
The Olympics are set from July 23 to August 8, while the SEA Games are set from November 21 to December 2.