Former JAAA boss encourages athletes to get vaccinated

3 years ago

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Former Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) boss Dr Warren Blake has sought to encourage athletes not to be afraid of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Blake, who served as president of the association for 9 years, was among the first Jamaicans to receive a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this week.

His decision comes as several prominent Jamaican athletes have voiced concerns regarding the safety of the medication.  Featured among them are West Indies star Chris Gayle who stated that he would not willingly take the vaccine and 2011 100m World Champion Yohan Blake who was even more adamant.  Blake claimed he would rather not compete at this year’s Olympics than take the vaccine.  However, to date, no sporting associations have made taking the vaccine mandatory.  

Dr Blake, however, has sought to assure athletes that the shot is safe to take.

“I think it’s important, the more people see people they know getting the vaccine and that there are no side effects, people will be more comfortable in taking the vaccine,”

Blake said in a recent television interview.

“I have not spoken to Yohan but the first thing I would have to do is to figure out why he is apprehensive of the vaccine and come to the conclusion that he should not take it.  I think it has to do with the bad propaganda against it because I am certain Yohan has taken vaccines in the past,”

he added. 

“If he had not taken vaccines he would not have been allowed to go to high school in Jamaica because we all had to get our DTP shots as youngsters and when you enrolled in high schools you had to present your vaccination card.”