At least three-quarters of athletes and crew members staying at Tokyo’s Olympic village will be vaccinated by the Games, International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach introduced Wednesday. “At this second, already as many as 75 % of the residents of the Olympic village are already vaccinated or have secured vaccination in time earlier than the Olympic Games,” he said at a meeting of Olympic officials. “But our efforts do not stop there. We have good reasons to believe that this figure will be well above 80 percent,” he added, talking at a coordination fee assembly of Olympic and Japanese officers.
Bach additionally mentioned the IOC was prepared to carry additional medical personnel to the Games, as organisers face controversy in Japan about whether or not the occasion will additional stretch the nation’s healthcare system throughout the pandemic.
“The IOC has provided to the organising committee to have extra medical personnel as a part of the NOC (National Olympic Committee) delegations,” Bach mentioned.
The additional personnel would “support the medical operations and the strict implementation of the Covid-19 countermeasures in the Olympic Village and the Olympic venues,” he added.
He gave no particulars on how many individuals might be concerned, however the supply appeared supposed to handle persistent criticism that Japan’s medical amenities can not deal with extra strain created by the Games.
Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto mentioned organisers would settle for the supply, including that vaccination of individuals “would be an important assist in direction of delivering a secure and safe Games”.
Just 10 weeks before the Games open, polls still show most Japanese want the event postponed further or cancelled.
Japan is battling a new wave of coronavirus infections and its own vaccine rollout has been criticised as slow.
But Games organisers say strict countermeasures, including the first-ever ban on overseas spectators, will ensure the event is safe.
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