Brazilians going to the Tokyo Olympics will be vaccinated
Athletes and all Brazilians who will actively serve in the event and in coverage of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be vaccinated. This is the decision of the Ministry of Defense in agreement with the Ministry of Health and the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).
Consequently, these people, about 1,500, including journalists, will enter the priority group for the national vaccination plan. In March, the Armed Forces had already included military athletes in the priority plan, and according to GLOBO, this decision was “forced” to increase the list of beneficiaries.
The list of Brazilians going to Tokyo was drawn up by the COB, which united the interests of the federal government with an offer to donate from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). These doses will arrive in Brazil via the Ministry of Health and be made available to the general population. Athletes and athletes from the Tokyo Games will be able to receive the vaccination at health centers starting next week.
The COB will organize logistics for athletes living abroad who have not yet been vaccinated so that they can take doses in Brazil.
The dynamics will be as follows: The International Olympic Committee, which will receive a donation of the Coronavac vaccine, via the Chinese Olympic Committee, will provide the doses to the federal government. For each member of the Brazilian delegation, two more doses will be provided to the population. Consequently, SUS will receive approximately 6,000 doses (sufficient to immunize 3,000 people).
These additional doses will be a “compensation” for the Brazilians waiting their turn on the waiting list. Because of the second-dose vaccination deadlines, the COB is in a hurry to vaccinate athletes, with the vast majority traveling overseas even before the Games’ scheduled opening, on July 23. According to an unofficial survey, around 80 athletes and technical committee members have already been vaccinated outside Brazil.
Since most styles are still not defined by their formations, either because the athletes are still eligible, as in the case of athletics, for example, or because the team relies on technical parameters, such as volleyball and football, the list will be vaccinated widely.
Officially, the International Olympic Committee says vaccination is not mandatory for athletes but has worked behind the scenes so that the largest number of people participating in the Games get vaccinated. Even if they are vaccinated, the athletes will be tested before embarking in Japan, upon their arrival in the host country for the games, and also daily. There is a suspicion that unvaccinated athletes will be treated differently from others.
Other countries have already vaccinated their players or will do so before the games such as Israel, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Australia, Belgium, UK, USA, Denmark, New Zealand, Spain, among others.
