IOC says 80% of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Village will be vaccinated
Tokyo, May 19 (EFE).- The International Olympic Committee said Wednesday it estimated that 80 percent of athletes and committee members who will stay at this year’s Olympic Village will arrive in Japan vaccinated, adding it would offer help to meet the needs of health personnel.
“At this time 75 percent of the residents of the Olympic Village are vaccinated or have secured the vaccine,” committee President Thomas said Wednesday at the opening of the Coordination Commission with organizers, adding that they have “good reason to believe that the figure will reach 80 percent for the games.”
Sixty-five days after the inauguration of the games, which are decreasing in popularity among the Japanese for fear that they will worsen the spread of Covid-19, Bach said the sporting events held so far have not been “a propagator of the virus.”
The committee president said “athletes are ready to make sacrifices,” such as undergoing quarantines, daily tests or limiting their movements and contacts, and said the games have “an additional tool” in vaccinations unavailable in recent events.
A week ago, the sporting body announced an agreement with pharmaceutical company Pfizer to provide vaccines to athletes participating in Tokyo 2020 and said they are seeing “good progress,” despite the fact that the vaccine is not mandatory.
“The Olympic Village is a safe place and the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be organized in a safe way,” Bach said.
For this, the international sports organization also offered to provide medical personnel to accompany the national committees to help in the assistance and implementation of anticovid measures in the Villa and at the venues of the different competitions.
Securing the personnel and medical instruments necessary to cover the possible needs of the participants during the games is one of the great pending challenges of Tokyo 2020, given the calls for their cancellation by the Japanese health community, amid Covid-19 concerns.
Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, thanked and accepted the offer, adding that they would continue to analyze how to carry it out.
Hashimoto said one of the coaches who arrived in Japan in April to participate in the Games’ test events tested positive for Covid-19 at the airport and was transferred to a government facility without mishaps, a case he called a good example of the protocols implemented.
“The Tokyo Games are facing an unprecedented situation, which is the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said, adding that she hoped the adversities and measures adopted for the occasion will serve as a “legacy for future generations” in the face of new challenges. EFE
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