NCAA to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for athletes, officials
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Season 96 of the country's premier collegiate league will push through this year according to Fr. Vic Calvo of host school, Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eyes to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for its league officials and student-athletes.
Colegio de San Juan de Letran's Fr. Vic Calvo, NCAA Management Committee chair, said that the league will be allocating part of its budget to procure the vaccines.
The NCAA is reportedly in discussion with Covovax distributor, Unilab.
Incidentally, the family of Dr. Jose Paulo Campos, league policy board member and Emilio Aguinaldo College president, partly owns the local pharmaceutical company.
Likewise, the league plans to hold an information campaign to educate student-athletes on the importance and benefits of getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Philippines is currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, with numbers breaching the 8,000 mark last Monday, March 22.
The government has placed Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) until April 4.
Calvo told members of the Philippine Sportswriters Association that Season 96 of the NCAA will push through despite the lingering uncertainty due to the pandemic.
“I think that's the best legacy Letran can give to the next season and to the NCAA,” Calvo said and as reported by GMA News Online.
“We promised, even at the start maraming hindi naniniwala na mapu-push 'to, pero with the minimum requirement na puwedeng gawin ay gagawin namin na matutuloy ito.”
The plan is to stage selected sports with chess and taekwondo as potential frontrunners to open the season.
The league is currently seeking approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to allow it to conduct men's basketball, beach volleyball, and women's volleyball tournaments.
Another option is to hold online skills and drills challenge instead of the usual full-court basketball and volleyball competitions.
GMA Network and the NCAA signed a landmark deal covering the broadcast rights for NCAA Season 96 to 101, including the centennial year of the Philippines' first athletic league in 2024.
