The Olympics are always full of surprises, and right at the beginning of the Tokyo Games, there’s already a stunner: the first vaccine-shunning idiot to ruin things for a bunch of other people isn’t an American.
Yes, other countries have morons, too! Proving that is Czech doctor Vlastimil Voracek, who tested negative for COVID-19 before leaving Prague for Japan, but positive upon arrival. Now there are six members of the Czech delegation who have tested positive, including beach volleyball player Markéta Sluková-Nausch, who, along with partner Barbora Hermannova, had to default their opening match, ending their Olympic dream before it could even begin.
And the very person responsible for the Czech athletes’ health, Voracek, is to blame. The doctor was eligible for a vaccine, but his statement that, “The organizers stipulated the rules … vaccination was voluntary,” answers the question of whether he got his shots just as clearly as Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s bogus claim that being questioned on his vaccine status was somehow a HIPAA violation.
We’ve been over this for more than a year: all that HIPAA means is that healthcare providers can’t go around blabbing about your medical information, not that your COVID status cannot be discussed with the media. It’s just a case of Prescott not wanting to say out loud that he hasn’t been vaccinated, because somewhere deep down, he knows that he’s wrong, and you don’t see anyone who’s gotten the vaccine going on and on about how it’s nobody’s business whether they’ve been vaxxed.
At least American swimmer Michael Andrew was honest about his unvaccinated status, saying — at least kinda-sorta understandably — that he didn’t want his Olympics to be impacted by side effects. Of course, Andrew could’ve gotten vaccinated months ago, but also of course, he doesn’t plan to get the jab at all.
The vaccine doesn’t fully prevent people who get it from contracting coronavirus, but it does blunt the disease’s effects, as seen by the near-unanimity of recent COVID deaths in America being unvaccinated folks.
While Voracek has taken his role as the Typhoid Mary of the Czech Olympic team, there’s another concern for the Games on the horizon: a typhoon could hit Tokyo on Monday or Tuesday. Because sure, why not?