IOC Says 85% of Athletes Participating in Tokyo Olympics Vaccinated Or Immune to COVID-19

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2021) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach on Wednesday said that 85% of athletes and officials taking part in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo are either vaccinated or immune to the coronavirus.

Earlier in the day, Bach discussed with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga the preparations for the Games ahead of the opening ceremony of the event, which is nine days away. Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto also attended the meeting.

"Eighty-five per cent of the athletes and officials who will live in the Olympic Village, and almost 100 per cent of the IOC Members and IOC staff, are either vaccinated or immune. The percentage of vaccinated international media representatives is between 70 per cent and 80 per cent," Bach was quoted as saying in a statement.

The IOC head praised the work of the Tokyo organizing committee in making the Japanese capital "the best-prepared Olympic city ever," adding that billions of people across the world will watch the Games and "admire what the Japanese people have achieved under these difficult circumstances."

The organizing committee also reported to the IOC on Wednesday three COVID-19 cases among over 8,000 people linked to the Olympics who arrived in Japan from July 1-13. The infected have been put to isolation, and their close contacts subjected to quarantine measures upon arrival, the statement also read.

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, scheduled to be held from July 23 through August 8, were initially scheduled for 2020, but then postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.