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I’d rather miss Olympics than get COVID-19 vaccine –Jamaica’s Yohan Blake

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Olympic champion and Jamaican sprinter, Yohan Blake has said he would rather miss the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games than get the Covid-19 vaccine.

The Olympics, originally billed to hold in 2020, was postponed to this year’s summer becuasr of the coronavirus pandemic.

Although getting vaccinated for coronavirus has not been made mandatory for athletes ahead of the Games billed for July, Blake insists he will not be vaccinated.

“My mind still stays strong, I don’t want any vaccine, I’d rather miss the Olympics than take the vaccine, I am not taking it,” he was quoted as saying in Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner.

“I don’t really want to get into it now, but I have my reasons.”

Read Also: Nigeria to ‘focus on’ only 11 out of 33 sports at Tokyo Olympics —Sports Minister

31-year-old Blake, a one-time rival of Jamaican great Usain Bolt and two-time Olympic gold medalist, added in a video tweeted on Saturday: “Follow your mind, don’t follow the crowd.

“At the same time, be respectful to each and every one. Don’t let no one take away your choice.”

Blake’s comments are coming a week before the Jamaican government is expected to receive its first shipment of the coronavirus vaccine.

The Olympic Games is set to begin on July 23 though speculation remains the event might yet be canceled due to the persistence of the pandemic.

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