Vaccine compulsory for all.
On Wednesday, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced its decision to make vaccination mandatory for all athletes selected for the Olympic Winter Games to be held in Beijing in February 2022.
The regulations also stipulate that this new measure must apply to all athletes, employees and contractors and people having access to the committee's facilities as of November 1.
It should extend to the other Team USA delegations and to the young hopefuls promised to participate in the future Olympic Games.
The USOPC indicates that this measure relates to the safety and productivity of athletes. “The health and well-being of our Olympic and Paralympic community continues to be a top priority. This will increase our ability to create a safe and productive environment for athletes and Team USA staff, and will allow us to restore consistency in planning and preparation of events and to provide optimal service to athletes ”. The body also specifies that it will examine exemptions from the vaccine on a case-by-case basis. And that all unvaccinated people will have to undergo a daily Covid-19 test.
During the last Olympics this summer, where the Americans finished first in the medal table with 113 units, the USOPC did not impose a vaccine on the athletes.
Of the 613 athletes who made the trip to Tokyo, a hundred of them had received neither a first nor a second dose.
Among them, the American swimmer, Michael Andrew had been criticized for not wearing a mask while addressing the media.
Some like the former swimmer Maya Dirado had judged that he was putting his partners in danger.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not impose compulsory vaccination for athletes involved in its events.
Recently according to The Athletic, Qatar, where more than 80% of the population is vaccinated, would like to impose this measure on all participants of the next FIFA World Cup in 2022. The host country of the next major football event from November 21 to December 18, 2022, would push with Fifa so that all players are vaccinated to be able to take part in the competition.
