TT OLYMPIC Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis has accepted an offer by the Pan American Sports Organisation to vaccinate all qualified athletes and accredited officials who will participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

On Tuesday, Panam Sports reported that it had reached an agreement with the University of Miami, United States and the Mexican Consulate in Miami to receive 4,000 vaccines that will be used to help ensure the health of the athletes and officials who will participate in the Summer Games.

A statement issued by Panam Sports president Neven Ilic said the vaccine is the one produced by Johnson & Johnson laboratory (one dose) and must be administered at least 30 days before entering Japan.

The vaccination process will begin on May 24 at the Consulate General of Mexico in Miami.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, has not mandated that athletes must be vaccinated to compete at the July 23 to August 8 Games.

Lewis welcomed the proposal by the regional body and said the local Olympic fraternity had already begun contacting qualified and potential athletes and officials who would like to tap in to this initiative.

“I can confirm that the president of Panam Sports has communicated with all the presidents of the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of the Americas and outlined how we can access the opportunity presented. The TTOC will certainly be embracing the opportunity presented by Panam Sports.

“We (TT) will be accessing the programme. It’s another tool in the toolbox in the priority of the Olympic Movement to ensure that every effort is taken to have the safety and health of not just the athletes and officials going to Tokyo 2020, but the people of Japan,” said Lewis.

To ensure smooth coordination, each NOC must send a list with the full name and passport number of each person from the delegation that requires a vaccine via email at the earliest convenience.

[caption id="attachment_890440" align="alignnone" width="1024"] TTOC president Brian Lewis -[/caption]

The IOC and Panam Sports will reimburse the cost of the airplane ticket (round trip from the country of origin to the USA) for the athletes and officials up to a maximum of US$500 per person.

The accommodation and visa requirements of each person to be vaccinated are the responsibility of each NOC.

Previously, the TTOC aligned itself with the IOC/Chinese Olympic Committee’s (IOC/COC) offer to have athletes vaccinated through their programme. However, after Tuesday’s offer from Panam Sports and a short chat with IOC officials on the way forward, Lewis confirmed vaccinating TT’s athletes with the Johnson & Johnson jab was the best way forward.

He said, “The vaccination programme currently being run by the IOC/COC uses the sinovac vaccine. But that particular vaccine has not received approval from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“The TT government has made it clear that it would not administer any vaccines to nationals