In January, Israel and Denmark promised to vaccinate their athletes against COVID-19 before sending them to the Tokyo Olympics. Most other countries were silent about the matter at that point. Israel had, by then, led the world in per capita vaccination and had already inoculated half of its Olympic delegation. Denmark said then that by July 1, its entire population would be vaccinated. Hungary and Belgium also said their athletes and officials would have their shots in a matter of weeks. Serbia soon followed suit. All this happened as the International Olympic Committee warned against athletes being given preferential treatment in the vaccine order.
More recently India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh likewise assured that their countrymen going to the Games would likewise have all been jabbed. This turned it into a race to see which pharmaceutical company would get the most goodwill (and revenue) from the problems associated with the Olympics. In May, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech agreed to donate vaccines to staff and competitors in Tokyo. The challenge for many countries has been how athletes could be prioritized as vaccine stocks were slow in coming.
Now that the ball is rolling, will the rest of the world follow? Can vaccination really be imposed as a pre-condition to enter a country? Technically speaking, it shouldn’t be, as it violates freedom of choice. Athletes in particular are more sensitive to anything that goes into their bodies. Historically, no medication can be imposed on an individual. In a way, it’s blackmail.
Globally, the track record of vaccines is very high. Many diseases have been wiped out in the long run by proper application of vaccines, and the world has been better for it. Mortality due to vaccines can range from half of one percent to one percent, depending on the illness. But in the case of COVID, the mortality rate is pretty similar. So where does that leave us? A zero sum.
It all comes down to being a hostage. After waiting an extra year, the people with the strongest resistance to disease now need to have incompletely tested medicine injected into their finely-tuned bodies. If they don’t, then they will not be allowed the chance to fulfill their lifelong dreams of being in the Olympics. When you consider that they have the best odds of not getting infected, and the best odds of overcoming it even if they are contaminated, you may think it illogical. Simple testing would do the trick.