Tokyo Olympics ... [no foreign fans] [no fans period]

[Conor Dary]

3 months before the Olympics....good luck...

Japan to start COVID-19 vaccinations for elderly on April 12

Vaccinations of the elderly will start on a small scale to work out any distribution and technical issues before ramping up nationwide from April 26, Kono said at a press conference on Wednesday.


https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2...l-12-suga.html

[Atticus]

Japan is doing everything in its power to ensure that there will be insufficient safety factors in effect when they have to make the decision in late spring.
I still think they could pull this off, but the clock is running down faster than the authorities are putting safety.measures into play.

[Conor Dary]

Japan is doing everything in its power to ensure that there will be insufficient safety factors in effect when they have to make the decision in late spring.
I still think they could pull this off, but the clock is running down faster than the authorities are putting safety.measures into play.

Japan is so vaccine phobic that everyone in charge is slow walking the vaccines as much as possible.... delaying everything....there is no sense of urgency at all....

Waiting until it is too late to have the Olympics which is what the public wants.... and political leaders are afraid to come out and say.

I just don't see the Olympics this year in Tokyo.

It is hard to have a party when the hosts clearly don't want to have it.

[TN1965]

Well, cancelling the Games requires a major decision. So maybe their inability to make a decision could "save" the Olympics.

Meanwhile...

Tokyo 2020 organisers warn against big gatherings during torch relay

The Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee said on Thursday they could suspend the upcoming torch relay should big gatherings raise coronavirus infection risks, asking spectators to support by clapping.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tokyo-202...022008892.html

[TN1965]

An Olympic fencer describes what it's like to train for the Tokyo games that may never come

https://www.yahoo.com/news/training-...231853951.html

[Conor Dary]

Well, cancelling the Games requires a major decision. So maybe their inability to make a decision could "save" the Olympics.

Meanwhile...

Tokyo 2020 organisers warn against big gatherings during torch relay

The Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee said on Thursday they could suspend the upcoming torch relay should big gatherings raise coronavirus infection risks, asking spectators to support by clapping.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tokyo-202...022008892.html

Right....why they are putting it off as long as possible... letting the Relay go on is part of that... it doesn't mean much.

Like Schrödinger's cat the Olympics appear simultaneously both alive and dead.

[Conor Dary]

Also the slow rollout in the EU, 7%, isn't helping....

[Conor Dary]

Meanwhile...on the African vaccination front ...from the Financial Times...

African price for Russian vaccine blunts attacks on ‘unethical’ west

• Sputnik V is triple cost of rivals • Continent seen as key market • Calls for transparency

However, the price of the Russian vaccine, which will not start arriving in Africa until May, compares with the $3 a dose that the AU has agreed for the AstraZeneca and Novavax jabs made by the Serum Institute of India, according to the people familiar with AU procurement. The AU will pay $6.75 a dose for the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine and $10 for Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose.

This week, the first AstraZeneca vaccine supplied by Covax arrived in Africa when Ghana took delivery of 600,000 doses. Covax had originally hoped to distribute 15m doses of vaccine to Africa this month with a further 40m arriving in March, though that timetable appears to have slipped.

David Malpass, president of the World Bank, said it was true manufacturers were diverting supplies towards richer countries paying more. He called for less secrecy. “We need transparency of their contracts with Covax and the doses that are available from Covax for developing countries,” he said.

[Conor Dary]

Meanwhile...

Japan on high alert for COVID-19 vaccination scams

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...vaccine-scams/

[Conor Dary]

Meanwhile....the Olympics are supposedly starting in July.....

Japan says it will have enough vaccine for 36m seniors by June


But most doses arrive in May, and local staff shortages risk slow rollout

Japan began vaccinating 4.7 million health care workers on Feb. 17, and inoculations for residents 65 or older start April 12. But officials previously had not elaborated on how many doses would be delivered, or the timing and destinations.

Most of the doses for the 40 million elderly people and health care workers are expected to arrive in May and June.

Inoculations for those younger than 65 will not begin in earnest until July, making it unlikely that most of the public will be fully vaccinated before the Tokyo Olympics opens July 23.

"There are concerns that there will be obstacles finding doctors and nurses for group vaccination venues," said a health official for the city of Kawasaki.

Shizuoka city needs to vaccinate a few hundred thousand elderly people, and an unexpected shortage of vaccines for April means most of the inoculations will be postponed until May or June.


https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Co...eniors-by-June

[Atticus]

Finally, a doctor with concerns about the Olympics, sees the Games should happen.

I wish we would either limit the Games to just the athletes, or insist on vaccination for all -- including spectators and host communities - who are part of the celebrations. Yes, these events deserve to go on, for the sake of the athletes -- but we cannot pretend that the current recommended precautions are adequate. If the IOC doesn't do better, it risks seeding a worldwide repeat of 2020.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/opini...ney/index.html

The take-away, as we all already knew, is that spectators will have to be severely restricted and everyone needs the vaccine. It IS doable.

[Conor Dary]

Finally, a doctor with concerns about the Olympics, sees the Games should happen.



https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/26/opini...ney/index.html

The take-away, as we all already knew, is that spectators will have to be severely restricted and everyone needs the vaccine. It IS doable.

Doable is one thing....and following through is another...

If the Olympics were in London I could see them happening...gung ho on vaccines etc.......but the Japanese openly appear in no rush at all. Political reasons most likely... the Japanese can't decide which is worse....Covid or the vaccine for it.

Without spectators it is a financial bloodbath for the hosts whether they happen or not.

[Atticus]

Without spectators it is a financial bloodbath for the hosts whether they happen or not.

Bigger bloodbath if they don't happen, which is why they are adamant (now) that they WILL happen.

[Conor Dary]

Bigger bloodbath if they don't happen, which is why they are adamant (now) that they WILL happen.

The IOC is adamant.....they take the TV money....also they don’t have run for office on an unpopular platform....

The Japanese officials sound like they want them...but don't act like it....

[Conor Dary]

Without spectators there isn't much point financially to have them....


A study has estimated that staging this year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo without spectators would result in a ¥2.4 trillion (£16.9 billion/$23.1 billion/€19 billion) economic loss for Japan.



Katsuhiro Miyamoto, a professor of theoretical economics at Kansai University, has calculated the economic impact of holding Tokyo 2020 behind closed doors.

According to his estimates, there would be a ¥381.3 billion (£2.7 billion/$3.7 billion/€3 billion) loss in spending related directly to the Games, or 90 per cent of the original projection for the event.

Due to declining enthusiasm for Tokyo 2020, Miyamoto estimated stimulus effects on household consumption expenditures would halve to ¥280.8 billion (£2 billion/$2.7 billion/€2.2 billion) and corporate marketing activities would be reduced.

Economic gains from promotional sporting and cultural events after the Games would be reduced by half to ¥851.4 billion (£6 billion/$8.2 billion/€6.7 billion), according to the study.

Limiting spectators would also lead to a blow to Japan's tourism industry and fewer opportunities for businesses, it is claimed.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/artic...-economic-loss