Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Butch Ramirez said the government sports agency would prioritize COVID-19 vaccination for national athletes and coaches once it becomes available in the country.
“Rest assured that we will take care of our athletes,” he said in Friday’s virtual press briefing.
Ramirez said as long as they have a budget, the agency would do its best to make these available for athletes and coaches for free.
In a landmark moment last Tuesday, United Kingdom became the first nation to begin vaccinating its citizens with a fully vetted and authorized COVID-19 shot of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.
First-world countries begin ordering millions of doses of the vaccine as the virus still continues to spread across the globe.
Ramirez said he could connect to various ministers of sports if they can help Filipino athletes through the coordination of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).
“Being the head of the office, I’m concerned for our athletes’ health,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ramirez laid down the agency’s plans for 2021 that include a high performance sports program to achieve at least two gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics.
Ramirez based this on the trend over the past years where the country won four gold, two silver and 15 bronze medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, and followed it up with an overall championship at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games that the country hosted where it harvested 149 golds, 117 silvers and 121 bronzes.
The country also currently has four Olympic qualifiers in boxers Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno, gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena, while the PSC is estimating around 20 to 25 athletes who have strong chances of qualifying to Tokyo.
“Malaki ang chance pero mahirap din kasing mag-predict except for powerful countries who have the expertise. Pero pag makita mo sa trend, our athletes have been performing really well,” Ramirez said.