Cebuana marathon queen Mary Joy Tabal gives a thumbs up after getting her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. | Photo from Mary Joy Tabal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuana Olympian Mary Joy Tabal finally got her first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine today, May 27, 2021, in-time for her preparations for the big races she will be joining this year.
The 31-year-old marathon queen is gearing up for the the Tokyo Marathon 2021 in October and the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Hanoi, Vietnam this November.
“I felt safe and at least I am not just doing this for myself, but also for my country’s goal to achieve herd immunity,” Tabal told CDN Digital.
Recently, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) thanked the national government for approving its urgent request to prioritize national athletes and coaches for the vaccination against the COVID-19.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) allowed the early vaccination of national athletes and coaches such as Tabal as they are set to compete in the SEA Games and the Tokyo Olympics in July.
The IATF included the national athletes, coaches, delegates and officials to both events in the Priority Group A4.
Although Tabal will not be competing in the Olympics, she is scheduled to vie in the two important races this year.
Tabal will be part of the 626 athletes that will be sent to Hanoi, Vietnam for the SEA Games.
Getting vaccinated for Tabal gave her peace of mind and helped her focus solely to her training.
“As an athlete that is engaged in day to day training, movements, and many physical activities, I am not just vaccinating for myself but also for others’ safety,” added Tabal who finished with a silver medal in the women’s marathon of the 2019 SEA Games in Tarlac.
She also plans to observe her health and physical condition after she will get her second dose of the vaccine. Aside from minimal pain on her left arm, Tabal feels healthy after her first vaccine jab.
“After observing myself for few days now and after getting my second dose, my training plans will most probably be focused on the usual training routine we had from the previous years and previous marathon preparations. I felt a lot safer now to execute any physical exercises!” she added.
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