Members of Japan's national teams for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games began receiving vaccinations against COVID-19 on Tuesday.
According to an announcement by the Japanese Olympic Committee, about 200 people, including national team officials and members of six sports organizations taking part in the Games, were vaccinated at the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences in Kita Ward, Tokyo, on the day.
"Reducing the infection risk [of the national team members] leads to the prevention of infections in Japanese society," said national Olympic team leader Tsuyoshi Fukui after receiving his first dose of the vaccine, emphasizing the importance of vaccination.
According to the Japan Football Association, soccer players aged 24 or younger representing Japan at the Games received the vaccination on Tuesday morning, and none of them showed any strong adverse reactions.
The Tokyo Games athletes and officials receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the disease, which has been provided for free by the International Olympic Committee to national teams of each country and territory taking part in the Games. In Japan, about 1,600 athletes and officials covered by the scheme are each expected to receive two doses of vaccination before the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games on July 23.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
