The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will start its COVID-19 vaccination of delegates bound for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and 2021 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Friday, May 28 at the Manila Prince Hotel.

POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino announced on Tuesday, May 25, in the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) forum that athletes, coaches, officials, and journalists bound for the major multi-sport events will be included.

“Inapprove-an na po ang prioritization of vaccination ng Olympic-bound and SEA Games-bound delegates ng IATF. Ang good news po ngayon ay inapprove-an na rin ang vaccination day on Friday,” said Tolentino.

“Kailangan pong makipag-coordinate na sa POC para mabigay na po namin ang total number of persons na dadating sa Manila Prince Hotel.”

(The IATF approved the prioritization of vaccination for Olympics-bound and SEA Games-bound delegates. The good news is that the vaccination day has also been approved for Friday. They need to coordinate with the POC so that we’ll be able to give a list of the total number of persons that will come to the Manila Prince Hotel.)

The vaccination will start at 9 am until 4 pm, and requirement for a COVID-19 antigen test before entering the venue is yet to be discussed.

This comes after the Vietnam SEA Games organizers announced a “no vaccine, no participation” policy that will be strictly enforced during the November 21 to December 2 games in Hanoi.

The national sports associations and PSA will need to submit the list of names eligible for vaccination to the POC.

According to Tolentino, the vaccine brand is still unknown as the national government has ordered a “brand agnostic” policy.

Among the nine Olympians, only boxer Eumir Marcial and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz have been vaccinated ahead of the biggest global sports showpiece to be staged on July 23 to August 8 in Tokyo, Japan. – Rappler.com