Story at a glance
- Tokyo is in a state of emergency due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, putting the Olympics at risk yet again.
- The country has a low rate of vaccinations and high rates of vaccine hesitancy just months before the opening ceremonies.
- In a recent poll, at least 70 percent of Japanese respondents said the international event should be postponed.
It’s been an uphill battle to hold the Tokyo Olympics since it was postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it isn’t easing up. Since January, when 80 percent of people responding to a Japanese poll said the international event shouldn’t be held amid the ongoing pandemic, two top officials have resigned over separate sexism scandals.
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Now, with Tokyo in the middle of a third state of emergency just weeks before an Olympic qualifying event is scheduled to take place in the city, Australia pulled its diving team out of the competition over safety concerns.
Still, the country is pushing forward with plans even as Our World in Data reports that only a little more than 1 percent of its people are vaccinated. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine became available in Japan just last month and has still not approved the Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccines. This month, adults over 65 years of age became eligible, and so far 2,643,238 health care professionals and other frontline workers as well as 74,852 seniors have been vaccinated, according to the Prime Minister’s office.
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“There is nothing surprising about local governments still [being] unprepared,” Taro Kono, minister in charge of COVID vaccinations, told Nikkei Asia ahead of the first doses administered to health care workers. Still, they added, “Japanese are people who have overcome a lot of difficulties.”
Those difficulties include past vaccination scandals that have left the Japanese public among the most hesitant in the world to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Adults under 65 aren’t expected to be eligible for vaccination until July, reported Nikkei Asia, raising questions about the planned Olympic opening ceremony scheduled for July 26. In addition to mandated testing, athletes will be required to stay within a “bubble” consisting of the Olympic Village, venues and training areas, reported The Associated Press, and will likely play in empty stadiums. Tourists and fans from other countries are not allowed in the country, which will lose out on much of the business associated with the events while still bearing the cost.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CORONAVIRUS RIGHT NOW
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IVANKA TRUMP’S VACCINATION SPARKS BACKLASH AMONG HER FANS
MODERNA SAYS ITS BOOSTER SHOT AGAINST COVID-19 COULD BE AVAILABLE BY THE FALL
DENMARK PERMANENTLY STOPS USE OF ASTRAZENECA VACCINE
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