By Steve Keating
(Reuters) – American athletes competing at the Beijing Winter Games will not be required to have COVID-19 booster shots, the United States Olympic Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said on Friday.
The USOPC said in September that all U.S. athletes hoping to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics would need to be vaccinated but will not require boosters even as the United States is seeing a surge in cases and the Omicron variant takes hold.
“At this point there is no mandate for a booster vaccine,” said USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland, during a conference call following the final executive board meeting of 2021.
“We have already encouraged many in our community to get the boosters following the CDC (Center for Disease Control) guidance where its appropriate and encouraged at this stage. We will absolutely continue to do that,” added Hirshland.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Beijing Olympic organisers have not required athletes to be vaccinated for the Feb. 4-20 Games but participants who have not had a COVID-19 shot will be required to serve a 21-day quarantine before competing.
The IOC did not require athletes who competed at this summer’s Tokyo Games to be vaccinated although it was encouraged.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Christian Radnedge)
