Olympics will be safe, says Bach

TOKYO • The International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday reassured an anxious Japan that the Tokyo Olympics would be safe for athletes as well as the host community, amid mounting opposition to the Games and fears it will fuel a spike in Covid-19 cases.

Speaking in Tokyo alongside senior Japanese government officials, IOC president Thomas Bach said he believed more than 80 per cent of residents of the Olympic Village would be vaccinated or booked for vaccination ahead of the Games, which are set to start on July 23.

The German also rejected growing domestic calls to cancel the global sporting showpiece, already delayed once due to the pandemic, saying that other sporting events had proved the Olympics could go ahead with strong countermeasures in place.

His comments came as Japan battles with a fourth wave of infections and its slow vaccination campaign has undermined already shaky public confidence that the Games should proceed.

"Together with our Japanese partners and friends, I can only re-emphasise this full commitment of the IOC to organise safe Olympic and Paralympic games for everybody," he said.

"To accomplish this, we are now fully focused on the delivery of the Games."

According to the Nikkei daily, less than 30 per cent of medical workers in Japan's major cities, including Tokyo, have been vaccinated against Covid-19 with just less than 70 days left to the start of the Olympics, despite it being three months into Japan's vaccination push.

The slow pace of vaccination for doctors and nurses has been among the complaints cited by national medical groups that oppose the Games.

But Bach said the IOC would do its part to keep the Japanese public safe, by having additional medical personnel as part of the National Olympic Committee delegations to support local medical operations and the strict implementation of countermeasures.

The Japanese government has promised to step up its inoculation programme, with the aim of protecting most of its 36 million people older than 65 by the end of July.

To reach that target, it is expected to approve Moderna's vaccine this week alongside the already approved Pfizer-BioNTech, while the AstraZeneca vaccine is also being considered by domestic regulators.

Officials are also looking into letting pharmacists give the injections, after a similar move regarding dentists last month in a bid to ease bottlenecks.

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama understands why many in his home country want this summer's Tokyo Games cancelled but he hopes the event can still go forward.

Speaking ahead of the PGA Championship which starts today, the 29-year-old golfer, who is the first Asian to wear the Green Jacket, said: "The virus is looked at a little bit differently in Japan than here in the United States.

"Just look around today, lots of people are here watching golf without masks, where in Japan, they're still very cautious. I can certainly understand those people who are voicing their opinion about the Olympics."

REUTERS