The Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement on Wednesday it has notified the country's athletes that they must be "fully vaccinated" against the novel coronavirus in order to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2021) The Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement on Wednesday it has notified the country's athletes that they must be "fully vaccinated" against the novel coronavirus in order to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
"On Wednesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee, with the support of its board of Directors and Athletes' Commission, notified all potential members of Canada's Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games team that they must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to be named to Team Canada," the statement said.
Canadian Olympic Committee Secretary General David Shoemaker said in the statement that the decision was made for the safety of the athletes and staff and because the Federal government recently announced all air travelers must be fully vaccinated by October 30.
Shoemaker noted that the Canadian Olympic Committee brought 840 people to and from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo without a single case of COVID-19 and wishes to do the same for Beijing in February next year.
On Tuesday, US Olympic Committee Board Chair Susanne Lyon said they do not anticipate a boycott of the event and hope Beijing will replicate the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, during which athletes competed while following strict COVID-19-related safety measures.
