Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers says priority won’t be given to Olympic athletes for COVID-19 vaccinations, ahead of the Tokyo Games this summer.
Denmark, Hungary and Israel have pledged to vaccinate all of their athletes ahead of travelling to Japan but Germany is strongly against the idea of competitors skipping the queue.
Minister Chambers said that the government is happy with the current age-based order of priority for the jabs.
“Certainly from the international message from the Olympic federation has been that the organizations in the counties should follow the national sequence and I think that’s important that we maintain the integrity of the vaccinations”
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has confirmed that elite athletes arriving into Ireland will be exempt from hotel quarantine.
Meanwhile a senior member of the Japanese government says the Olympics could still be cancelled, if the coronavirus pandemic means they can’t be hosted safely.
The event’s supposed to be getting underway in 99 days – but won’t have any spectators from overseas.
Over 70 per cent of people surveyed in Tokyo by the Kyogo news agency, think the Games should be delayed again, or cancelled.
