Japan's vaccine push before Olympics looks to be too late pressherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images
Fifty days from Thursday, if IOC president Thomas Bach tunes out the flak, the Olympic cauldron will be lit at Japan National Stadium, belatedly opening Tokyo s pandemic Summer Games.
There s an urgent argument that these rescheduled Olympics shouldn t begin on July 23. Half of the United States and Canada has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, but the world is still mired in the health crisis that postponed the 2020 competition for a full year. The virus that s killed more than 3.5 million people globally is infecting 3,000 people per day in Japan, where fewer than 10% of the population has been jabbed.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said the group “cannot postpone the games again.” By
Adam Barnes | June 3, 2021 The Olympic rings are lit at the waterfront of Odaiba in Tokyo on April 20, 2021.Getty
Story at a glance
Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto has said the event will move forward despite warnings from the medical community that the delayed summer games could pose an imminent public health risk.
The committee president’s resolute posture conflicted with a fresh warning from Shigeru Omi, the head of an expert panel advising the Japanese government on COVID-19 risks at the Olympic games.
The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic