The Covid-19 Vaccination Dilemma for Cyclists

While the Ministry of Sports and Health is currently working on a Covid-19 vaccination plan for Olympic athletes heading to Tokyo, we can also ask the question for other athletes, especially professional cyclists and amateurs who have the opportunity to compete. What are the impacts of vaccination on performance? What are the risks? What are the benefits? How to determine a coherent schedule? How to make the two injections coincide with the race program? And why prioritize athletes in the queue over the rest of the population who will have to wait their turn? Is this acceptable?

By Jean-François Tatard – Photos: AFP/emmer.com.ar/UAE

Like all answers since the beginning of the epidemic, none are certain. Even the most expert have often been wrong for 18 months. Nevertheless, given the scheduling of athletes’ objectives in a season that is still uncertain regarding the holding of events, if the voluntary or obliged athlete must be vaccinated, in terms of performance, the ideal would probably be to administer a single-dose vaccine. If necessary, this would mean considering a 30-day delay between the two injections if the chosen vaccine is Pfizer or Moderna. And therefore taking the risk of doubling the duration of side effects if there are any.

The question of priority

To get vaccinated, high-level athletes will in any case have to choose the right queue. In all these vaccination campaigns that are gaining momentum all over the world, as we can see in the media, should professional athletes be given priority? The subject is delicate enough to question the essential nature of this profession or status. You will admit that the subject is complicated. It is difficult to admit that a profession like that of a cyclist is absolutely necessary for the well-being of humanity. But I leave you the freedom to motivate your own opinion on this debate…

In the UAE team and in the Israel Start Up Nation team, they didn’t ask themselves the question for long. As soon as the vaccines were available, the riders of these two teams had already been served before everyone else. The season had not yet started when Pogacar and his teammates were already immunized by the much-coveted antidote (by the Chinese vaccine, whose effectiveness is nevertheless disputed). Perhaps also the Emirates and the Israeli state had already been the most reactive overall in quickly vaccinating their population.

So comes the question of motivation. If the state obliges and provides the means to vaccinate massively, there is no longer any debate. But what do we do then for athletes whose countries take longer?

Time is running out

In France, nothing is very clear yet. The Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Health have not yet decided on prioritizing the vaccination of champions. But it seems that it is the athletes themselves who are asking for it, because it seems that in some countries, to compete, the vaccine will soon be mandatory. Especially at the Olympics. Except that time is running out and it is also necessary to take into account that there is possibly the risk that the vaccine will disrupt the athletes’ preparations and training.

The situation is complex. Where to prioritize? What is the best thing to do? Should the athlete be given the choice? Could a negative PCR test be enough? And put yourself in the place of a rider who catches Covid the week before the Tour? Or two weeks before the Olympics? It’s difficult to weigh the pros and cons. Difficult to make the right choices. We also have no clear perspective on the side effects of vaccination. Each case is different. And it seems to be a bit of a lottery at that level too. There are positions that inevitably cause conflict. And when we question cyclists who have had the chance to race since the beginning of the season, we finally realize that very few have already received their first injection. And when the final list of Olympic selections comes out, probably in June, it will be too late to vaccinate. So what do we do?

Between the Tours of Italy, France and Spain, the Olympics, the World Championships, the autumn classics, and the associated training camps and preparations: time is running out. To avoid disrupting performances and various preparations, this vaccination campaign for champions is, as you can imagine, a huge stress. A stress that those who were vaccinated first have already quickly gotten rid of. So, if ultimately the solution, for champions awaiting vaccination, was to continue to live in isolation until the season ends? To take all precautions not to be contaminated as long as they are in a competition period? To continue to live with PCR tests and wait for the sports break period to do like everyone else and when it’s their age group’s turn to make their appointment on https://vitemadose.covidtracker.fr?

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