Facilitate vaccine for our pro sportspersons too

Photo used for representational purpose.

While India’s vaccine shortage problem continues unabated, one can’t help but feel sorry for the hundreds of professional sportspersons across the country whose bread and butter has been hit by the Centre’s failure.

Though there is no major sporting event happening in India at the moment given the current Covid-19 explosion, there are quite a few competitions in progress abroad, particularly in Europe and America, across disciplines like tennis, boxing, football, hockey. And there are many Indian sportspersons, who are eligible to participate at the pro level, but cannot do so since the prerequisite for participation is a vaccination certificate, and a major part of India’s population that lies in the 18-44 age bracket is yet to be vaccinated.

There can be no let-up in training however, and these professional athletes have to continue to spend out of their pockets for training, which costs between Rs 2,500 and Rs 10,000 an hour for tennis depending on which part of the country it is in or the level of affluence of the club concerned. And with the athlete aware that there won’t be any income in the immediate future, this investment can be painful.

While some of the country’s top sports boards like the BCCI have organised vaccines for its cricketers and the Indian Olympic Association too has assured jabs for all its Tokyo-bound athletes, for those who are not representing the country, it’s almost impossible to get vaccinated.

Since there aren’t too many pro athletes across India, the respective state governments will do well to allocate vaccines for all athletes, who have professional engagements abroad.

While this will make them physically better equipped to tackle the virus on international shores, it will also, and more importantly, improve the economic health of the sportspersons and their families.

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