All U.S. Olympians are fully vaccinated ahead of Beijing Games
All of the approximately 240 American athletes heading to Beijing for February's Winter Olympics are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, Axios reports, per Team USA's top doctor.
In September, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee updated its policy to mandate all employees, athletes, and contractors be vaccinated against COVID-19, Axios notes. During the Summer Games in Tokyo, during which there was no vaccine mandate for American athletes, approximately 100 of Team USA's 613 competitors were unvaccinated.
"Vaccination is sort of the foundation of our COVID mitigation protocol," Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Finnoff told The Associated Press on Thursday. Not a single athlete competing in the Winter Games requested a medical exemption, he said.
Any unvaccinated competitors would be required to complete a 21-day quarantine period, per the IOC. That, Finnoff said, combined with education from both the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, "really resonated with the athletes."
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