NEW DELHI: As many as 209 athletes and para-athletes and another 151 coaches and support staff members have been vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus, with some of them even completing the vaccination course having received their second shots.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Sunday informed about the vaccination status of the country’s Tokyo-bound athletes and officials, who form part of its long list as on June 5, 2021.
Of the actual Olympic-bound athletes, only five are yet to receive their first dose.
All five of them were tested positive for Covid-19 earlier and have since recovered.
These include woman boxer Simranjit Kaur and shooters Saurabh Chaudhary, Rahi Sarnobat, Deepak Kumar and Mairaj Ahmed Khan.
While pistol and rifle shooters Chaudhary, Sarnobat and Kumar are training in Zagreb, Croatia, skeet specialist Khan is currently preparing for Tokyo in Italy, along with another Olympic-bound shooter and teammate, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa.
According to IOA, among the athletes who have received their single Covid-19 vaccine dose are 120 able-bodied sportspersons and 27 para-athletes.
Those who have received their second vaccine dose include 58 able-bodied sportspersons and four para-athletes, taking the total count of athletes to have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to 209.
As far as the coaching and support staff is concerned, as many as 114 of them have received their first dose while another 37 have completed their vaccination course, bringing the total count to 151.
The overall count of athletes and coaches being partially or fully vaccinated as on June 5 stood at 360.
Recently, at the official kit unveiling and the opening ceremony attire for the Tokyo-bound Indian athletes, IOA president Narinder Dhruv Batra had requested sports minister Kiren Rijiju to ensure that all the Indian athletes be fully vaccinated before they head to the Olympics.