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Olympic Games: at least 75% of village residents will be vaccinated

2021-05-22T05:45:26.893Z


The International Olympic Committee hopes to increase that percentage as the competition begins in two months.


The organizers want to be reassuring with the approach of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo (Japan) from July 23 to August 8.

While pressure is growing in favor of a cancellation or a new postponement because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, assures this Wednesday that at least 75% of the residents of the Olympic Village “have already been vaccinated or are planning to do so” before the competition.

"We have good reason to believe that this rate will rise well beyond 80%," he added in an online meeting with local organizers.

The IOC is ready to provide additional medical personnel for the Games, said Thomas Bach, as many Japanese fear that the event will put more pressure on the health system in the Archipelago.

"The IOC proposed to the organizing committee to integrate additional medical staff into the delegations of the NOCs" (National Olympic Committees).

This additional staff "will support medical operations and the strict implementation of anti-Covid measures in the Olympic Village and at Olympic venues," he continued.

Thomas Bach did not give details of how many people might be involved.

Very slow vaccination campaign

The organizers will accept this offer, reacted the president of Tokyo-2020, Seiko Hashimoto, adding that the vaccination of the participants "would be of great help to ensure the safety of the Games". A little more than two months before the opening of the Olympics which had been postponed for a year in 2020 because of the pandemic, Tokyo and other Japanese departments remain subject to a state of health emergency. Most Japanese want the Olympics to be postponed again or canceled, polls show.

Japan is currently suffering from a new wave of Covid-19 infections and the authorities are strongly criticized for the slowness of the national vaccination campaign.

But the organizers of the Games say that strict measures, including the establishment of a health "bubble", regular tests and the ban on spectators coming from abroad enacted at the end of March, will guarantee the safety of the event.

Read alsoCovid-19: the events of the day live

The IOC president was forced to cancel a visit to Tokyo this week due to the extension of the state of emergency in Japan, but he showed confidence during his videoconference with Japanese organizers and officials. "The most important principle is very clear: the Olympic Village is a safe place and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in a safe manner," he said.

Thomas Bach pointed out that sports competitions have been held around the world without incident. He also referred to recent tests in Japan, especially with international athletes, which did not cause infections. “The athletes participating in the tests had to face many restrictions (quarantine, daily tests, lack of public transport, hardly any contact with the Japanese population) in order to protect the Japanese population,” he said. "Athletes are ready to make these sacrifices because they understand that safety comes first."

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2021-05-22

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