Australia aiming to vaccinate Olympians before Tokyo Games

Australia's federal sports minister Richard Colbeck on Thursday announced that the country aims to vaccinate its Olympians against coronavirus before they head to Tokyo Games.

In an interview with the Canberra Times, Colbeck said that the body coordinating the vaccination rollout plan suggested that athletes would likely be inoculated before the July 23-August 8 Games.

"If our plans work OK it may very well be conceivable that Olympic athletes, for example, we'll get to them before they head off to the Games anyway," he was quoted as saying.

The minister went on to say that "older Australians, frontline workers and those with underlying medical conditions" would be prioritised and that "most athletes" would be vaccinated in a later phase of the rollout.

This move comes after IOC chief Thomas Bach's statement on Wednesday, where he said that vaccines are not a 'silver bullet', however, the IOC is encouraging the everyone to accept vaccination.

"Vaccination is not the silver bullet which solves all problems. It is part of the countermeasures for Tokyo 2020. We are encouraging everybody to accept vaccination. But athletes should not jump the queue," IOC chief said.

Several international federations, including Israel's Olympic Committee, have already begun vaccination drive for their Olympic delegation before the Games kick-off.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said it hoped athletes could be vaccinated but said vulnerable people and health workers must come first.

"We are recommending and encouraging our athletes to get vaccinated but support the IOC position that it’s not mandatory," an AOC spokesman said.

(Inputs from Reuters)