Japan Covid: 100 days until the 2021 Tokyo Games, but Japan has vaccinated less than 1% of its population

Holthus said that supporting the Games should be a “once in a lifetime” opportunity. “But now it’s just a really dangerous experience,” she said.

In a statement to CNN, the organizers of Tokyo 2020 said that they are preparing to organize “Safe Games and without assuming that there will be a vaccine and even without vaccines.”

“On the other hand, we hope that the vaccines will be administered properly at home and abroad and that, as a result, the infection will be reduced overall,” the statement said.

Slow release of the vaccine

“It is said that elderly citizens should be vaccinated by June, but in reality, even the medical staff treating Covid has not been vaccinated yet,” said Oka of Saitama Medical University, adding that he did not believe the goal of June vaccination would be fulfilled.

International spectators were banned from the Games in an attempt to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading to the event. But more than 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries are expected to participate.

Without plans to vaccinate athletes, the tens of thousands of volunteers who participate have little chance of protection.

Holthus said Tokyo 2020 President Hashimoto Seiko told volunteers during a Zoom call that he was relying “on your smile” to make the Olympics a success – a particularly disturbing statement because everyone will wear masks. .

“(We were told)” Your smile will make the Olympics exist “and you wonder, are you kidding me?” said Holthus, who is scheduled to volunteer as a ticket collector.

A volunteer who attended an 80-minute lecture on infectious disease control for Games volunteers, said a top Japanese infectious disease expert who told them they should not rely on vaccination before the event.

“(He said) if you are not elderly, there will not be enough time for ordinary people to get vaccinated,” said the volunteer, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid being excluded from her role at the Olympics. She said he felt angry and scared after the presentation.

The volunteer, who had participated in previous Olympics, said she was considering giving up unless all volunteers were vaccinated. “Failure to do so is a reckless neglect of our lives and an optimal safe environment that Japan, as a host country, is obliged to provide,” she said.

Tokyo 2020 did not answer questions about the content of the presentation given to the volunteers.

Questions about athletes

Even countries with almost no infections have struggled to organize major sporting events during the pandemic.

For Japan, where there were 2,112 new cases on Tuesday, it will be a bigger challenge.

However, according to the CIO document, athletes will not be required to be quarantined for 14 days after arrival in Japan, unless they have violated the precautions in the country of Covid-19 or have been potentially exposed to the virus.

During the Games, participants will be “tested for Covid-19 at different intervals”, and all athletes and visitors will receive a “Covid-19 Liaison Officer”.

International guests have been asked to leave their accommodation only to “go to the official venues of the Games and to additional limited locations”, the list of which will be released in the second manual, which will be published this month.

Hugs and lifts should be avoided and public transport should not be used. A face mask must be worn at all times.

The organizers of Tokyo 2020 did not answer questions about how social distancing measures would be maintained in the Olympic village.

A super-spreading Olympic event?

While athletes from the Olympic Village will have all the negative results before arriving in Japan, they will inevitably come into contact with tens of thousands of untested volunteers who will commute between the Olympic venues and their homes.

In response to a question as to whether any Tokyo 2020 events will be postponed because of Covid, the statement said the situation is “changing every moment”.

Holthus said that in addition to hand sanitizer and two face masks, Games officials provided volunteers with a “health log” in which to record their own health.

“There will be concentrated groups of people from all over the world, mingling. What if there is a cluster growing in one of the Olympic venues? What if it comes from one of us?” she said.

Oka, a professor at Saitama Medical University, shared the volunteers’ concerns, saying the Games could allow dangerous Covid-19 variants to spread not only through Japan but around the world.

Oka said he was also worried that Japan’s already large hospital would not be able to cope if there was a sudden influx of athletes and volunteers infected with the virus. “As a specialist in infectious diseases, I cannot approve the organization of the Games in a situation where not enough vaccinations have been made and not enough measures have been implemented,” he said.

In a statement to CNN, the organizing body Tokyo 2020 said it has “high hopes” that the situation in Covid-19 in Japan will improve before the Olympic Games. “We will continue to work closely with these parties as we prepare to offer Safe Games this summer,” the statement said.

Olympic volunteer Philbert Ono said he trusts the government and the IOC to keep athletes and volunteers safe.

“The Japanese like to watch history. And you know that these Olympics are very, very much a historic Olympics … this is going to be a very different Olympics. And that’s another thing I’m looking forward to,” he said. . “I just want to see how I do it.”

But Holthus said he did not think the Games should move forward with the current state of readiness, which was a “recipe for a super-widespread event.”

“We can’t even imagine how bad it could be,” she said. “But the damage will be done with the Games. There is no going back after everyone is flying.”