FILE – In this May 17, 2021, file photo, demonstrators protest against the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The IOC and Tokyo Olympic organizers start three days of virtual meetings Wednesday, May 19, 2021 and will run into some of the strongest medical-community opposition so far with the games set to open in just over eight weeks.
TOKYO (AP) — The IOC and Tokyo Olympic organizers start three days of virtual meetings Wednesday and will run into some of the strongest medical-community opposition so far with the games set to open in just over eight weeks.
The meetings are headed by IOC Vice President John Coates, who will attempt to again assure the Japanese population that the games will be “safe and secure.”
Much of Japan, including Tokyo and Osaka, is under a state of emergency, which forced IOC President Thomas Bach to cancel a trip to Japan this month. Only about 1-2% of the population is fully vaccinated, and opposition to the Olympics is running at 60-80% in numerous polls.
In one of the strongest statements so far, the 6,000-member Tokyo Medical Practitioners’ Association called for the Olympics to be canceled in a letter sent last week to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, and Seiko Hashimoto, the head of the organizing committee.
The letter was made public this week on the group’s website.
“We believe the correct choice is to the cancel an event that has the possibility of increasing the numbers of infected people and deaths,” the letter said.
“Viruses are spread by people’s movements. Japan will hold a heavy responsibility if the Olympics and Paralympics work to worsen the pandemic, increasing the number of those who must suffer and die.”
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