The Chinese Olympic Committee has offered vaccine doses to be used for participants at this year’s Tokyo Olympics and the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, the International Olympic Committee confirmed on Thursday.
“The IOC has received a kind offer from the Chinese Olympic Committee, hosts of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, to make additional vaccine doses available to participants in both editions of the Games,” the IOC president, Thomas Bach, said.
“The Chinese Olympic Committee is ready in cooperation with the IOC to make these additional doses available … either via collaboration with international partners or directly in countries where agreements regarding Chinese vaccines are in place.”
Bach was addressing an online presentation by the new Tokyo Games chief, Seiko Hashimoto. He did not provide any details on the number of doses. More than 10,000 athletes will take part in the Olympics, with several thousands more involved as coaching staff, media, volunteers and officials.
“The IOC will pay for the additional doses of vaccines not only for Olympic but also Paralympic teams,” Bach added. “For each of these doses the IOC will pay for two doses more which can be made available to the respective countries’ population.”
Bach, who was re-elected for a second term as president earlier this week, also said “a significant number” of Olympic athletes have already received vaccines. “The IOC will make every effort to have as many participants arriving already vaccinated in Japan,” he said. “I can inform you that a significant number of Olympic teams have been vaccinated in line with national guidelines.”
Toshiro Muto, the Tokyo Games CEO, declined to comment on Bach’s announcement. Asked how the organisers might respond if China offered vaccine doses, Muto said: “The vaccination process is handled by the Japanese government, so we as the Tokyo organising committee are not in a position to comment.”
Bach also tried to allay public concerns in Japan over the Games going ahead this summer, saying hundreds of major international sports events had taken place since September with strict health measures. “Not a single one of these events put at risk the health of the host communities,” the 67-year-old said.
Hashimoto denied widespread reports that fans from overseas would not be able to attend the Games, which are set to take place between 23 July and 8 August. “We are still continuing discussions and have not yet reached a conclusion,” she said, adding she is hopeful of a final decision before the Olympic torch relay begins on 25 March.
That event will take place just under four months before the rescheduled Games begin, but the buildup continues to be disrupted by the cancellation of qualifying events, due to continuing Covid-19 restrictions. With a deadline of 29 June set by the IOC to complete qualifying, 25% of athlete places are yet to be filled.
In artistic gymnastics, May’s all-around World Cup in Tokyo has been scrapped, following the cancellation of other events in Stuttgart and Birmingham. Canoeing qualifiers in Brazil and the final round of boxing preliminaries in Paris have also been cancelled, with some European-only bouts still going ahead.
