Already delayed a full year because of the COVID pandemic, the Tokyo Olympic games took another hit recently when the TMPA (Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents roughly 6,000 primary care doctors) joined calls to cancel the Olympics in the wake of surging cases in the region.
The group posted an open letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on its website where it stated “We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games”. Tokyo and several other major cities are currently under another state of emergency which has been extended to May 31st.
The concern stems from a lack of hospital beds, medical equipment, and personnel available to deal with the 3rd wave of infections which has seen numbers spike in recent weeks. In addition to the TMPA, several other medical groups have voiced their displeasure with the government’s decision to move forward with the games. An online petition has currently garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures calling for the cancellation of Olympic events.
Similar to Canada, Japan has managed to avoid massive widespread infections and casualties due to the virus to date. However its government has been criticized for a slow vaccination roll out with only 3.5% of its 126 million citizens vaccinated at this point.
The games, which are scheduled to take place July 23rd to August 8th, are still two months away. Which is why the Japanese government is preaching a “patience” approach to making any final decisions on the events. Japan has hosted a variety of test events in recent weeks which have gone off relatively smoothly. However these trial runs factored in only 420 athletes, nowhere near the scale of personnel that will attend in July (for reference, the US alone sent 558 athletes to the 2016 summer games).
Several athletes have taken to social media to indicate they will not be participating in the Tokyo games due to health concerns. With cases surging across most of the Asian continent, other large scale events such as the World Economic Forum (also slated for August) have already been cancelled. A fact that those who oppose Japan hosting the games this summer are quick to point out.
Vaccine developers Pfizer and BioNTech have partnered with the IOC to deliver vaccinations to prospective Olympic & Paralympic athletes in an effort to ensure they are fully vaccinated ahead of the opening ceremonies. However, these deals will likely only affect many of the highly developed nations, and will not ensure that all participants have received a dose (let alone two) before events kick off in July.
Erica Gavel, a member of Canada’s Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team stated “Before the vaccine roll-out, I was quite worried from a global standpoint, the Olympics are bringing in thousands and thousands of people, and it looked like it was going to be a COVID petri dish…Now it looks like things are moving in the right direction, to say the least.”
While there will inevitably be athletes and nations pushing for the games to go ahead as planned, the situation in Tokyo will be under a microscope for the next month. Although the government remains optimistic that their measures will be able to curb the spread and see figures begin to decline in the lead up to July, medical professionals aren’t sold that it will be enough. For now everything remains full steam ahead across the Pacific. But as we’ve learned several times over during this pandemic, your best laid plans can change in a hurry.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner