Tokyo 2020: despite the state of emergency in the Japanese capital, the Games remain in place

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics insisted on Friday that the Olympics postponed due to coronavirus would go ahead as planned next summer despite the declaration of a state of emergency by the Japanese government.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that the month-long state of emergency would cover the greater Tokyo region from Friday, as Japan faces a sharp resurgence of the pandemic.

Thus, several other regions, including those of Osaka (west) and Aichi (center), are considering applying to join the system.

Greater Tokyo, where nearly 37 million inhabitants live, or 30% of the Japanese population, concentrates the majority of new daily cases currently recorded at the national level.

"This declaration of emergency offers an opportunity to bring the Covid-19 situation under control and to ensure that Tokyo 2020 plans a safe Games this summer"

Organization press release

Tokyo 2020 officials have repeatedly said that a further postponement of the Games - which are due to start on July 23 - is out of the question.

And they insisted on Friday that the state of emergency would not derail plans.

"This declaration of emergency provides an opportunity to bring the Covid-19 situation under control and to ensure that Tokyo 2020 plans a safe Games this summer, we will make the necessary preparations accordingly," the organizers said in a statement.

Suga said Thursday that Japan is committed to hosting a "safe" Olympics and is confident that public opinion will change its mind when Japan begins the vaccinations, which are scheduled to start in late February.

Dick Pound's doubts and the vaccination problem

Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was quoted Thursday by the BBC as saying he could not "be certain" that the Games would go as planned due to the unknown over "surges" contamination.

Pound also added that athletes should be high on the priority list when it comes to getting the vaccine, and also suggested that organizers could make it a condition for entering Japan.

On this subject, the IOC had declared a few days ago that the athletes would not be obliged to do so, while specifying: "At the same time, the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee are fully aligned on their commitment to vaccinate as many foreign participants as possible before the Games.

Athletes are important role models, and by taking the vaccine they can send a powerful message that vaccination is not just a matter of personal health, but also a matter of solidarity and consideration for the well-being of others. in their communities. ”

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A very important issue of vaccines in Japan, their use has not yet received the green light from local authorities, but Mr. Suga repeated Thursday that the vaccination campaign could start at the end of February.

A very optimistic deadline according to other sources, such as the distributor of one of them, Moderna, who believes that its vaccine should not be approved in Japan before May because of the obligation to submit to local clinical trials.

That would leave a tight vaccination schedule, with the Olympics set to start two months later.

In the meantime, the organizers, who planned to exhibit the Olympic and Paralympic flames in various locations in the capital in January, announced on Thursday the postponement of these events indefinitely.

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