Archers, rowers get Covid vaccine, India’s other Olympics-bound athletes wait

While most of India’s Tokyo Olympics-bound athletes wait for Covid vaccination, the archers and rowers have received the shot as their national camps are being run in Army facilities in Pune.

The Tokyo-bound archers, based at the Army Sports Institute, received their first jab in March. They will get the second dose next week before they leave for the World Cup, which starts in Guatemala City on April 19. Army has been given priority in the nationwide vaccination drive.

The rowing team, in a camp at Army Rowing Node in Pune, completed its vaccination course on Saturday. It includes five male rowers who will participate in the Asian and Oceania Continental Olympic Qualification Regatta, to be held in Tokyo from May 5 to 7. Four female rowers, part of the team but training in Bhopal, have not received the vaccination.

“The rowers who were at the camp in Pune have received both their shots as part of the Army's vaccination drive. Almost all of them received their second shot on Saturday. Some of them will receive the second shot soon. The coaches have also been given the vaccine,” said a coach, who did not wish to be identified.

“All our archers currently stationed in the camp at the Army Sports Institute (Pune) have got the first dose of vaccine and will get their second dose soon. The Army is taking care of their vaccination inside the ASI premises,” said Pramod Chandurkar, Secretary General, Archery Association of India.

“The support staff which has been recently attached full time (to the archers) will also get its vaccination before the team leaves for the World Cup,” he added.

It is a huge relief for the eight-member archery team (4 men, 4 women) that will participate in the first World Cup. The contingent will have four support staff as well as a “team leader”. The archers will travel to Shanghai for the second World Cup from May 17-23 and to Paris for the third World Cup from June 18-27. All three are qualifying events. The federation has planned an acclimatisation camp in Japan before the July 23-August 8 Olympics.

With many Indian athletes travelling abroad for training and competitions, planning the vaccination will be a big task for IOA. The second shot must be taken between four and six weeks after the first. “We will plan the logistics once we get the approval,” says IOA secretary general, Rajeev Mehta.

The wrestlers will compete in the Asian Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan from April 12-17, the weightlifters travel for their first international event, the Asian Championships, at Tashkent, Uzbekistan from April 16 to 25. The men’s hockey team, some of whose members have recovered from Covid, will play their first FIH Pro League match since the pandemic disruption began last year, against hosts Argentina on April 10.

In archery, the men’s team of Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav and Deepika Kumari in women have qualified for Tokyo. They have all got the first shot.

A majority of India’s Tokyo-bound athletes (84 have qualified so far) and those who have qualification tournaments coming up are waiting to be inoculated. The Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) are waiting for a go ahead from the health ministry to start the process. A recent spate of positives in the National Institute of Sport, Patiala and SAI Centre in Bengaluru has raised the concerns of IOA and National Sports Federations (NSFs).

“The Olympics-bound athletes should be vaccinated as soon as possible. They are going out for competition and training and vaccines will be a big safety net,” said an NSF official.

IOA has also written to the health ministry. “We are waiting for government approval. We also need approval from WADA, which has been sought,” said IOA’s Mehta. “We are also in talks with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) but we can move forward only after we get clearance from the government,” he adds.

The International Olympic Committee has (IOC) has said while it supports the vaccination of athletes and NOC officials, it will not be mandatory to participate in the Olympics and Paralympics. It has said any vaccination programme must be conducted fully respecting national vaccination priorities.

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