The high performance athletes in Mexico They know that they have the right to receive the vaccine against Covid-19 and with the understanding that it is required to participate in certain competitions, they have been concerned about receiving two doses of it, however, they point out that the sports authorities do not maintain a channel of communication to send them information related to their rights, obligations or border restrictions with respect to the vaccine.
“From my position as an athlete, I know that I have the rights, like everyone else, to have the free vaccine. I also understand that there are several competitions and countries that force you to have the vaccine so that you can enter, “the gymnast told this newspaper Fabian Luna, Pan American champion in Lima 2019. The athlete has received two doses of the Moderna brand and is waiting his turn to receive the reinforcement. A year ago Luna stepped down from participating in the gymnastics World Cups to avoid “unnecessary risk” and “wasting time” quarantining tournaments that were not necessarily her main objective.
“As an athlete we do not have information from our authorities, but I am aware that all citizens, including athletes, have the right to health, which is enshrined in the Constitution. I do not know the reasons why our authorities do not provide us with much information. I think we are a very unprotected sector in that sense “, he commented Patricia Bárcenas, adapted weightlifting athlete.
On the other hand, the Dr. A hard tackle from Kethzel García to Padrón, a doctor from the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (Conade), pointed out that the information generated around the covid-19 vaccine is sent to all the doctors in charge of the athletes, who have the obligation to distribute it among athletes and monitor the evolution of the information.
“In addition, when the athletes went to the ‘bubble’ (of the CNAR) to concentrate and get vaccinated, several colleagues had to give that information in an auditorium, while the vaccine was being applied, it was explained to the athletes. It is not so much that the information does not reach them, I think it is more of a triangulation situation and that sometimes it does not arrive in an adequate way, but that the information has come out, it is public, yes. For my part, I have transmitted it to all my athletes ”, argued the doctor.
Among the basic information that García Padrón distributes to his athletes are the care in the pandemic, the types of vaccines with international acceptance, adverse effects, the suggestion at the level of the World Health Organization (WHO) of acquiring the reinforcement and, in case of contagion, how are the processes of reincorporation to training and its care from the medical, nutritional and psychological fields.
The doctor of the Conade explained that although being inoculated against Covid-19 has become a requirement in the competitions for a greater range of safety within the bubbles, in case of rejecting the vaccine due to personal decisions or medical conditions, there are options to be performed continuous tests “that are increasingly assertive and meticulous to make the early detection of the coronavirus during the competition, as well as the isolation and containment measures that are already quite well described and worked at the competition level, the athlete while negative has the possibility to compete “
— What do you know about travel restrictions and the types of vaccines required to participate in international competitions?
– “I don’t know about that,” he said Patricio gonzalez, wakeboard athlete.
– “The information I have received is very ambiguous and there is no federation or committee that has sent me the appropriate guidelines,” said the frontenista Laura Bridges.
– I know that there are several countries that do require it, also that there are many that just require a negative test. What I know about all vaccines is what I have investigated for my part, no one has sent me additional information “, he mentioned Fabian Luna.
All the athletes interviewed indicated that they have received two doses of the vaccine. Alejandra Maffey, director of NETA Sports Agency, indicated that his entire portfolio of athletes have been inoculated. Outside the agency, he also does not know of cases of Mexican athletes who have opposed receiving it.
NETA also sought that all its athletes receive their doses, because in March 2021, Conade began to apply the Sputnik and Pfizer vaccine to the athletes and multidisciplinary team who were in the “CNAR Reopening Program” and who would attend the latest competitions to seek a pass to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
“We requested that Donovan Carrillo (figure skating) be vaccinated because he was in the process of qualifying for the Winter Olympics. It was not feasible and as an agency we did all the steps so that they could go to Miami, United States, and get vaccinated there. Another case was that of Laura Fuentes, she had to go to the World Cup in Valencia and there were still no vaccinations for her age and there were none in Conade, we arranged for her to go to some part of the republic to get vaccinated. We try to make them aware of the importance of getting vaccinated. We did not have any issue that someone did not want to be vaccinated, on the contrary, we wanted to speed up their vaccination process due to all the sports commitments they had, “explained Maffey.
One case that has been around the world is the arrest of the world’s number one tennis player, Novak Djokovic, in the migration center of Melbourne, Australia, due to his “unvaccinated” status, which is a requirement to enter the the country. Despite the fact that on January 5 he published that he had received an exemption to participate in the first Grand Slam of the year, the authorities stopped him on landing.
“I am also in favor of many theories against vaccines against Covid-19, but I wear it so as not to put my family at risk. If he is not in favor and is not putting people around him at risk, I support his idea and I do not consider that they have to force it to enter Australia. There must be freedom of decision in the vaccine, “said Patricio González.
The cycle towards the Olympic Games in France was reduced from four to three years, the athletes continue with their international agenda and so far, Conade has not reported a possible application of reinforcements.
fernanda.vazquez@eleconomista.mx
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