Tokyo Olympics: US swimmer Michael Andrew's refusal to get vaccinated causes controversy

US swimmer Michael Andrew's hesitancy to get vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2021 had courted huge controversy after 22-year-old became only US swimmer to publicly anunce that he was unvaccinated against Coronavirus in January.

A record holder in 100-meter breaststroke, Michael Andrew is being seen as a US Gold medal favorite for Olympics 2021. He is scheduled to make his debut in summer games and compete in 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter individual medley, and 50-meter freestyle.

However, his analysis on side-effects of COVID-19 vaccine and how his immunity had been built up after he contracted virus in 2020 only added to unvaccinated athlete's sensational anuncement.

Several sections of US media have dubbed swimmer as an 'anti-vaxxer' after he said that he 'didn’t want to put anything in his body' that it could adversely react to. 

Speaking to USA TODAY Sports Michael Andrew in a pre-Olympics video said, “My reason behind it is, for one, it was kind of last moment (and) I didn’t want to put anything in my body that I didn’t kw how I would potentially react to. As an athlete on elite level, everything you do is very calculated and understood."

“For me, in training cycle, especially leading up to ( U.S. Olympic trials) I didn’t want to risk any days out. re were periods where you take a vaccine (and) you have to deal with some days off," he added.

Unvaccinated athlete in US swim team raises fear

While Tokyo 2021 does t make vaccination mandatory, Andrew's strong stance against COVID-19 vaccine has become a cause of concern for US national team and risk it might pose to or athletes. Around 90% of US team is vaccinated. According to Lindsay Mintenko, managing director of US national team, Olympic COVID and contact tracing rules were “taking into consideration vaccination status.”

Meanwhile, Team USA coach Dave Durden has defended Andrew's stance saying that he wanted all US athletes to 'feel safe and feel good.' "It is a team thing that we’re really supporting each or on and Michael is different in that regard," he said.

So far, total number of COVID-19 cases detected in  Olympic Vill stand at 91.  Olympics Games are being held from July 23 to August 8.