Olympic champion sprinter Yohan Blake of Jamaica said he would rather miss the Tokyo Games than get the Covid-19 vaccine, though getting vaccinated will not be required of the athletes competing there this summer.
“My mind still stays strong, I don’t want any vaccine. I’d rather miss the Olympics than take the vaccine. I am not taking it,” he was quoted as saying in Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner.
“I don’t really want to get into it now, but I have my reasons.”
Blake, a one-time rival of Jamaican great Usain Bolt, is likely to still be able to participate in what is expected to be the 31-year-old’s third and final Games even if he does not get the vaccine.
Follow your mind, don’t follow the crowd.
— Yohan Blake
The International Olympic Committee has said getting the vaccine is “encouraged” but not compulsory for athletes.
“Follow your mind, don’t follow the crowd,” the two-time Olympic gold medallist said in a video posted to Twitter on Saturday.
“At the same time, be respectful to each and every one. Don’t let no-one take away your choice.”
The Jamaican government is expected to receive its first shipment of the vaccine next week, The Gleaner reported.
Blake’s remarks came after a series of eight meets were held across the Caribbean island nation on Saturday, marking a return to large-scale sporting events that had been on hold due to the pandemic.
The Olympics, which were pushed back by a year due to the global health crisis, are set to begin on July 23, though speculation remains the event might yet be cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.
— Reuters
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