A vaccine is not a requirement for holding next year’s postponed Olympics and Paralympics, the CEO of the Tokyo Games said Friday.

Toshiro Muto was speaking after a task force meeting with government officials, disease experts and Japanese Olympic officials. It’s the first of several high-level meetings dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as Tokyo tries to figure out if it can hold the games.

“It’s not a prerequisite,” Muto said of the vaccine. “The International Olympic Committee and the WHO already discussed this matter. It’s not a condition for the delivery of the Tokyo 2020 Games. A vaccine is not a requirement. Of course, if vaccines are developed we’ll really appreciate it. And for Tokyo 2020 this will be great. But if you ask me if that’s a condition — it’s not a condition.”

The task force meetings over the next several months will deal with issue like getting athletes into Japan, COVID-19 testing, measures to keep venues safe, anti-virus measures at the Athletes’ Village, immigration issues and the status of fans.

A statement outlining the schedule of five meetings said an “interim summary is planned by approximately the end of 2020.”

“As far a spectators, we don’t have any conditions yet, but we’d like to avoid no spectators,” Muto said.

Japan is facing a major challenge, with the public skeptical the Olympics can take place — or should take place. Japan has already invested billions, and the delay is likely to cost billions more.

A poll last month of almost 13,000 Japanese companies showed 53.6% want the games canceled or postponed again. The IOC has said if the Olympics can’t happen in 2021, they will be canceled.

A poll in July found that two-thirds of the public also favors another postponement or cancellation.

“While living with the coronavirus, we need to make sure that athletes can perform at their best and audiences enjoy the games safely,” deputy chief cabinet secretary Kasuhiro Sugita said at the meeting. “To achieve that, we will adjust border controls, testing and medical systems and the operations of the venues.”

Japan has reported about 1,300 deaths from COVID-19 but new cases in Tokyo have fallen in the last few weeks. The challenge will be bringing in athletes representing 206 nations and territories where COVID-19 conditions are vastly different.

Related Stories
‹
Olympics Now Ended, Japan Races to Vaccinate as Virus Surges
Written by MARI YAMAGUCHI The Tokyo Olympics have ended, but it’s still vacation season in Japan, and many people are ignoring government pleas to avoid travel and stay away from bars and restaurants even as the coronavirus spikes at record levels. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is pinning his hopes on vaccinations, which started slow but […]
Japan Expands Virus Emergency After Record Spikes Amid Games
Written by MARI YAMAGUCHI Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency to four more areas in addition to Tokyo on Friday following record spikes in infections as the capital hosts the Olympics. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared an emergency in Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, near Tokyo, as well as in the western city of Osaka, […]
With Muted Ceremony and Empty Stadium, Tokyo Olympics Begin
Written by FOSTER KLUG Belated and beleaguered, the virus-delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics finally opened Friday night with cascading fireworks and made-for-TV choreography that unfolded in a near-empty stadium, a colorful but strangely subdued ceremony that set a striking tone to match a unique pandemic Games. As their opening played out, devoid of the usual crowd […]
Tokyo New Virus Cases Near 2,000 a Day Before Olympics Open
Written by MARI YAMAGUCHI Tokyo hit another six-month high in new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, one day before the Olympics begin, as worries grow of a worsening of infections during the Games. Thursday’s 1,979 new cases are the highest since 2,044 were recorded on Jan. 15. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is determined to hold […]
Olympics, Pandemic and Politics: There’s No Separating Them
Written by STEPHEN WADE Over and over, year after year, the stewards of the Olympics say it: The Games aren’t supposed to be political. But how do you avoid politics when you’re trying to pull off an event of this complexity during a lethal and protracted pandemic? Consider: — The Japanese medical community largely opposes […]
Japan Girds for a Surreal Olympics, and Questions Are Plenty
Written by FOSTER KLUG After a yearlong delay and months of hand-wringing that rippled across a pandemic-inflected world, a Summer Games unlike any other is at hand. It’s an Olympics, sure, but also, in a very real way, something quite different. No foreign fans. No local attendance in Tokyo-area venues. A reluctant populace navigating a […]
Fans Face Ban at Olympics; Tokyo Under State of Emergency
Written by MARI YAMAGUCHI and STEPHEN WADE Fans are likely to be banned from the Tokyo Olympics following a state of emergency on Thursday aimed at containing rising COVID-19 infections in the capital. The extent of the ban, which comes just two weeks before the pandemic-postponed Olympics open, will be announced later on Thursday by […]
Palace: Japan Emperor ‘Worried’ About Olympics Amid Pandemic
Written by MARI YAMAGUCHI Japan’s Emperor Naruhito is “extremely worried” that the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics could accelerate the spread of the coronavirus, the head of the Imperial Palace said Thursday with the games opening in one month. The games will bring thousands of foreign athletes, officials, sponsors and journalists to Japan during a pandemic, […]
Tokyo Olympics To Allow Local Fans — but With Strict Limits
Written by STEPHEN WADE A sharply limited number of fans will be allowed to attend the Tokyo Olympics, organizers announced Monday as they tried to save some of the spirit of the Games where even cheering has been banned. Organizers set a limit of 50% capacity — up to a maximum of 10,000 fans, all of […]
Tokyo Olympics Looking More and More Like Fan-Free Event
Written by STEPHEN WADE The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee hinted Friday that even local fans may be barred from venues when the games open in just under two months. Fans from abroad were ruled out months ago as being too risky during a pandemic. The prospect of empty venues at the postponed Olympics […]
›