Delivery is set to begin this month to give Olympic delegations time to be fully vaccinated with a second shot before arriving in Tokyo for the Games, which open on 23 July.
It’s the second major vaccination deal for the IOC.
An agreement was announced in March between the IOC and Olympic officials in China to buy and distribute Chinese vaccines ahead of both the Tokyo Olympics and next year's Beijing Winter Games.
As part of the plans to ensure safe and secure @Tokyo2020, the IOC has signed an MoU with Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE to donate doses of the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine to Games participants from National Olympic and Paralympic Committees around the world.https://t.co/Ne3sLgM1se
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) May 6, 2021
Most countries have yet to authorise emergency use of Chinese vaccines. The IOC said any vaccination program must be done "in accordance with each country’s vaccination guidelines and consistent with local regulations".
The IOC-China vaccine deal includes two does being made available to the general public for each dose received by an Olympic participant in that country.
Spectators
Also in March, organisers of the Tokyo Olympics said that overseas spectators would not be permitted to attend the event as part of the Japanese government’s attempts to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speculation had been rife that fans travelling from abroad would not be welcomed into the country.
Around 900,000 tickets for the Olympics and subsequent Paralympics are to be refunded.
