Overtime

NAT’L ATHLETES FIRST TO RECEIVE COVID VACCINE SAYS PSC

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez assured national athletes that they will be among the first to be injected with the Covid-19 vaccine once its available in the country.

/ 13 December 2020

“Rest assured that we will take care of our athletes,” Ramirez said during the virtual press briefing on Friday.

“If we have the money, I am committed to give vaccines to all our athletes.”

Ramirez believed that as early as June next year the vaccine will be available in the country.

The chairman will be seeking financial aid from government offices to provide the vaccine.

“If there’s no money, we will ask from the government and I will call (Health) Secretary (Francisco) Duque for the cost of the vaccine and we will reach out to them,” he said.

Once the vaccine has been made available, athletes can have the chance to resume their face-to-face training that was halted in March.

Physical training has yet to gain the nod of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), however, PSC had already laid down its plan in staging a training bubble at Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna.

Meanwhile, athletes based abroad are already training and some are even competing.

Filipino athletes are getting ready for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan and for the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.