IOC vice-president Dick Pound<\/strong> believes giving athletes priority access to the covid-19 vaccine is the most “realistic way” to ensure the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead.<\/p>\n

The Games are due to start on 23 July after being pushed back a year because of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

However, cases are surging once more with Britain and Germany in lockdown and Japanese broadcaster Asahi TV reporting on Wednesday that a month-long emergency will be declared in Tokyo and the surrounding areas from Saturday 9 January to 7 February.<\/p>\n

$\"Dick$
Dick Pound, IOC member and former head of WADA – Photo Courtesy: US Mission Canada<\/p><\/div>\n
Again speculation is rife as to whether the Games will go ahead given they are scheduled to start less than seven months hence.<\/p>\n
Pound, the 1962 Commonwealth 100m freestyle champion for Canada, believes prioritising athletes is the most viable way to save the Tokyo Games, telling Sky News:<\/p>\n
“In Canada where we might have 300 or 400 hundred athletes – to take 300 or 400 vaccines out of several million in order to have Canada represented at an international event of this stature, character and level – I don’t think there would be any kind of a public outcry about that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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“It’s a decision for each country to make and there will be people saying they are jumping the queue but I think that is the most realistic way of it going ahead.”<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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IOC president Thomas Bach<\/strong> has called for athletes to be vaccinated ahead of the Games although he fell short of saying it should be mandatory in order to compete.<\/p>\n
Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga\u00a0<\/strong>also insisted the Olympics will go ahead despite the record surge in cases in the host city, saying:<\/p>\n
“This summer, we will hold the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are a symbol of world unity. We will make steady preparations to realise a safe and secure event.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
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