The Pfizer and BioNTech laboratories announced this Thursday, May 6 that they had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to provide vaccines against Covid-19 for athletes and delegations from all countries participating in the Olympic Games in Tokyo planned this summer.
The two companies, whose anti-Covid vaccine dominates global vaccination campaigns, "will coordinate with Olympic committees across the globe," they said in a statement.
The IOC has always ruled out making vaccination compulsory for the Games (23 July-8 August), and even calling for a prioritization of athletes, but for months has been encouraging as many participants as possible to be vaccinated.
Already number of vaccinated athletes
The first deliveries of the vaccine should begin "at the end of May where possible in order to ensure that the members of the participating delegations receive their second dose before their arrival in Tokyo", they specify.
These doses will be in addition to deliveries already planned for orders placed by governments.
“This vaccine donation is another instrument in the toolkit of measures that will help make these Tokyo 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games a safe and secure event for all participants, while also showing our solidarity with our host, Japan. », Greeted the President of the IOC, Thomas Bach.
The Olympics are due to host around 11,000 athletes, but many of them have already been vaccinated through their national programs "or have received the promise to be", according to the IOC.
The agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech could therefore concern a few thousand athletes, but also all the members of the delegations.
"By accepting the vaccine, (athletes and members of delegations) can send a powerful message, that it is not only their personal health that is at stake, but also the solidarity and well-being of others", insists Thomas. Bach in the press release.
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The IOC, based in Lausanne (Switzerland), has been promising for months “safe” Olympics even without generalized vaccination.
He still recently insisted on the "340 major sporting events" which were able to bring together "more than 41,000 athletes" despite the pandemic thanks to a battery of health precautions.
A persistent doubt about the maintenance
The agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech is a milestone all the more important as Tokyo and several Japanese departments have once again been placed in a state of emergency in the face of the increase in coronavirus cases, fueling persistent doubts about whether the Games will be held. .
The Japanese authorities have already decided to ban spectators from abroad and the Olympic high mass could well be held behind closed doors for the first time in its history, the president of the organizing committee explained to AFP last Friday. , Seiko Hashimoto.
In an attempt to appease the skepticism of the Japanese population, largely in favor of a new postponement or cancellation, the organizing committee also strengthened last week the antivirus measures imposed on Olympic delegations and the media.