Vaccination direction

Will vaccination be mandatory for Filipino athletes going to international competitions? Can anyone decline to be vaccinated? What would the protocols be for such requirements? Can a country specify a certain brand of vaccine for foreigners entering their territory?

The Philippine Sports Commission is studying the best approach as to whether or not to require national athletes to get vaccinated before entering their training bubbles for the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi in November. Some athletes who are in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and others who have served as front-liners have already been vaccinated. As of now, no country has required visiting foreign nationals to be vaccinated before entering their shores. Even Japan has not issued any ruling on those traveling there for the Olympics. There are major legal implications.

Some athletes are concerned about the side effects of being jabbed with a vaccine. First of all, they may not be able to train if the side effects are severe. Secondly, the side effects are supposedly worse for the second dose. Some athletes feel this may divert some of their energy to building antibodies instead of building their strength and speed. Furthermore, the process takes weeks at a crucial point in training. Also, since all of the vaccines are on Emergency Use Application only, they have not gone through the full process of testing. No one can say for certainty that they will be entirely the same after getting dosed. Legally, no one can be forced to take the vaccine. But it may be extremely inconvenient for future travel not to have taken it.

So far, most Philippine national sports associations are preparing to have their athletes tested and quarantined upon arrival in Japan or Hanoi. For now, that seems to be the acceptable protocol. The PSC, through National Training Director Marc Velasco, has said that the agency is prepared to support early trips to Japan, whether it be four weeks ahead of schedule, six weeks, and so on. The commission has had the foresight to acquire accommodations for advance parties to Tokyo.

Some international athletes who don’t believe in inoculation and don’t want to risk infection may decide to forego the Olympics altogether. This gives the Philippines twin advantages: a big powerhouse roster of potential winners who have already qualified for Tokyo, and the absence of some strong rivals. The Philippines has not yet won multiple medals in modern Olympics. (In Seoul in 1988, Leopoldo Serrantes (boxing) and Arianne Cerdeña (bowling) both won medals, but Cerdeña’s gold did not count in the medal standings.) This is the country’s greatest chance to win more than one medal, quite possibly at least one gold. Filipino athletes and athletes of Filipino heritage have already won gold medals for the US as far back as London in 1948, when Victoria Manalo Draves won golds in both platform and springboard diving.

As the Olympics approach, it will become more and more difficult for Japan to impose any additional travel restrictions. Time to disseminate new information, prepare, and implement new health and safety protocols is something they don’t have.