A few weeks ago, the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (Copur) announced that it had received approval from the Department of Health to vaccinate all 23 athletes classified at the Tokyo Olympics.
Some of the classified, such as the sailor Enrique “Quique” Figueroa, have already been inoculated, while others are waiting for the compilation of personal information to begin the vaccination process.
But in between, and with a rise in cases on the island, there are some athletes who have shown some resistance to vaccination, according to the director of the Center for Sports Health and Exercise Sciences (Sadce) of the l ‘Olympic Hostel, Dr. Enrique Amy.
“There are some athletes who don’t want to be vaccinated and the explanation they give is that (once) they were vaccinated and gave a reaction and others who have this theory that it is not necessary (to be vaccinated). There is a certain ignorance “And I suggested to Sara (Rosario, president of Copur) to do an educational activity through Zoom or through some digital platform to explain the importance of vaccination and that they are informed,” Amy told the spokesman.
The doctor clarified that vaccination is not mandatory to go to the Olympics. However, he argued that traveling to Japan “without vaccination – no matter how many controls there are – is a terrible risk.”
“It’s a personal decision. We are trying to give all the information to the athletes and recommend that they get vaccinated. From a health point of view we are concerned that these strains, which are virus mutations, can be contagious and problematic.” , explained Amy.
“We have two pending activities: one, is to certify the date to do a group vaccination for athletes and the other is educational because I’m seeing resistance from a few athletes, and good athletes, who don’t want to be vaccinated for a reason or another, “he added.
On Tuesday, Health reported the existence of a new variant on the Island.
It is a mutation of the California type, the variant, despite the similarity, is classified individually. The fourth California variant responds to identification: B.1.427.
Amy was also concerned about athletes who are not yet vaccinated and looking for their Olympic qualification.
“We had an athletic therapist who accompanied the swimming delegation to Argentina. Nothing happened to anyone except him. He had covid and has been in Argentina for a month. He is more emotionally traumatized than physically. Fortunately. , he got a ticket today (Tuesday) to return, “he explained. “We’re trying to avoid these things.”
“If you give covid to a young athlete, you can stop being the athlete he is. And what will you do? I put it from that point of view. I’d rather they get vaccinated fast and if they go looking for the classification that they go vaccinated because we know that if you give them covid, the symptoms and permanent damage are minimal, ”said Amy, who hopes to vaccinate the rest of the athletes during this month.
“There are some who are being vaccinated on their own and the number can reach ten and maybe more,” he pointed out.