The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is working with government agencies to prioritize the COVID-19 vaccination of national athletes particularly those who will compete in the Tokyo Olympics set on July 23 to Aug. 8.
PSC commissioner Ramon Fernandez said that chairman Butch Ramirez is already in talks with the concerned agencies on the country's vaccination plans this year.
"The chairman is working on that (for our government) to also prioritize our athletes especially those who are going to the Olympics," said Fernandez in Radyo Pilipinas' PSC Hour program on Friday.
"I think the chairman is talking with the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases), WHO (World Health Organization) and Department of Health. Priority namin 'yan ngayon para sa mga atleta in case dumating na nga 'yung vaccine," he added.
Ramirez already said last month that the PSC would push for the vaccination of the elite athletes set to join not just the Olympics but also the other sporting events including the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) in Thailand in May and the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam in November.
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Fernandez said they are hoping that the vaccines will be available by March or April so that athletes could have some sense of normalcy in their training for the Olympics and the qualifying tournaments.
On Wednesday, chief implementer of the national task force against Covid-19 and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. bared that the government is looking to secure at least 148 million doses of vaccines from at least seven manufacturers this year but did not give a specific date of arrival.