JAKARTA - Formula 1 will reject the offer of COVID-19 vaccination for all team personnel and officials from the Bahraini government when they arrive in the kingdom in the Gulf for pre-season testing this month.
Following the postponement of the Australian Grand Prix, scheduled for March 21, the focus for this season has shifted to Bahrain where pre-season testing will take place on March 12-14 before the series opener takes place there on March 28.
"Most of the participants will be present in Bahrain for a period of three weeks before the race," said a statement by the Bahrain Grand Prix organizers as quoted by Antara, Monday.
"This, in turn, offers a unique opportunity to provide additional protection for those who wish to take this opportunity in the form of a vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine)."
Calling it one of the countries with the highest vaccination rates in the world, and claiming to have five different vaccines for its population. Bahrain says it is expanding the vaccination program to a number of major events in its territory.
Sources in Formula 1 say the offer will be rejected.
Headquartered in the UK, like most teams, F1 wants to stay in line with the UK vaccination schedule so that their personnel do not appear to be taking advantage of that privilege.
More than 20 million people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, which has so far registered an estimated 123,000 deaths related to COVID-19, the most of any country in Europe.
The decision to hold a Grand Prix in Bahrain has caused controversy because the country in the Middle East has stumbled on alleged human rights violations.
In November 2020, 16 groups of human rights activists wrote to F1, accusing them of playing a central role in "sportwashing" or using sport as a tool to improve the reputation of the Bahraini government amid alleged human rights abuses in the country.
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