Vaccine Needed to Ensure Tokyo Olympics

(ATR) The president of the Japan Medical Association says "it would be exceedingly difficult" for Tokyo to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2021 without a coronavirus vaccine.

Yoshitake Yokokura, speaking at an online press briefing held by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on Tuesday, stopped short of saying his group would oppose the Games being held if there is no vaccine.

"We cannot make that judgment based on the situation in Japan but we need to have the global situation of the COVID-19 infections as the key point," Yokokura said through a translator.

"Even if the situation in Japan has improved of course we also have to consider the situation at that time of other continents and if there is indeed an ongoing contagion."

Yokokura said he believes that Japan’s current nationwide state of emergency, set to run through May 6, won’t be lifted completely by then. Infections are rising in some areas despite the emergency measures.

A total of more than 13,000 cases have been reported by local governments in Japan, with 375 people killed by the coronavirus.

Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori, in an interview published on Tuesday, said the Games could not be postponed a second time because of the pandemic.

Mori told Nikkan Sports that the Games would be cancelled if the coronavirus was not under control in time for the rescheduled dates.

He did express confidence that the Olympics would go ahead come July 23, 2021.

"The Olympics would be much more valuable than any Olympics in the past if we could go ahead with it after winning this battle. We have to believe this otherwise our hard work and efforts will not be rewarded," Mori was quoted as saying in the interview.

Homepage photo: Tokyo 2020

Written by Gerard Farek

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