
As the government gave the first dose of vaccine against COVID-19 to members of the national team, Tokyo Olympics-bound Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz said she is delighted to see fellow athletes as well as coaches get inoculated for protection against the virus.
“Syempre masaya ako para sa kanila (Of course I am happy for them),” said Diaz when contacted Friday, May 28, by Manila Bulletin. "They do their part as Filipino citizens and as athletes.”
“Hindi lang prinotekta ang sarili nila, pati na din mga tao nasa paligid nila (They didn’t just protect themselves, but also the people around them),” added Diaz, who is training in Malaysia.
Diaz actually had her first jab of AstraZeneca vaccine last May 7 together with coaches Kaiwen Gaoof China and Julius Naranjo – her strength and conditioning mentor – in a facility in Malaysia.
The 30-year-old Diaz only posted a video of their experience being vaccinated Friday, where she said it was a smooth and hassle-free process for them to complete the procedure.
“Medyo mabilis ang proseso (The process was quite fast),” she said.
A total of 730 athletes and coaches received the first shot of vaccine held at the Manila Prince Hotel in Ermita, Manila. Majority of the athletes are preparing for the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam later this year.
Diaz, silver medalist in 2016 Rio Olympics, is set to compete in her fourth straight Games in Japan. She completed the required number of Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQT) during the Asian Championship last April in Uzbekistan.