Japanese minister Seiko Hashimoto says the hosting country is planning for the Tokyo Olympic Games next year, whether the vaccine is widely available or not.
Seiko Hashimoto has said, that the Tokyo Olympics must be held “at any cost”, as organizers go on to weigh up options for staging a post-pandemic celebration of sport in Tokyo next summer.
She told reporters on Tuesday that everyone involved with the Games is working hard together to prepare and all athletes are also making great efforts towards next year. She wants to concentrate all of their efforts on measures against the coronavirus.
She suggested the priority had changed from planning for the complete Games into an event that would be able to enable athletes to compete regardless of the status of the world health crisis.
There remains a growing belief within the national Olympic committees that the events will happen following lengthy discussions about how they can be held safely.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games were suspended in March when the Covid-19 pandemic started its rampage through the US, Europe, India, Brazil, and other parts around the world.
Health experts warn that a vaccine seems not to be widely available by the time the opening ceremony is planned to take place on 23 July 2021. As a result, a task force of organizers, health experts, national and local government officials met last week to discuss about anti-virus measures.
The group, expected to release an interim report at the end of the year, is sifting through over 200 proposals on how best to prevent an Olympic-related outbreak at the same time enabling about 11,000 athletes from over 200 countries to travel to Japan.
The Tokyo chief executive, Toshiro Muto, insisted Last week that the Olympic Games must be held even if a vaccine was unavailable since a vaccine is not a requirement. However, if vaccines are developed, they will really appreciate it and that would be great for the Olympics.
Although it is possible to reduce the risks to athletes, it is much harder in terms of ensuring the safety of huge numbers of spectators from overseas.