A rollout of donated coronavirus vaccine doses for the Japanese competitors at this year's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will get started as early as next month, it has been learned.
The Japanese Olympic Committee and the Japanese Paralympic Committee are cooperating with national sports organizations in conducting a survey to determine when they can expect to have their athletes receive shots, sources said Tuesday.
The survey is calling for the sports organizations to vaccinate their athletes in June and July. Some organizations have sent the athletes questionnaires to assess their desired dates for receiving shots, while others have already notified the JOC and JPC of their preferred dates, which are based on the training schedules of their athletes.
A number of competitors have mixed feelings about the rollout of the vaccine donated from U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and its German partner, BioNTech SE, the sources said.
The decision on receiving the shots will be up to each athlete and official.
Some athletes have stated clearly that they will be inoculated to avoid inconveniencing those around them, while others said they are considering not getting shots because they do not want to lower their guard against anti-infection measures, according to the sources.
Tamayo Marukawa, the minister in charge of the Tokyo Games, has said that among the athletes who will represent Japan, about 1,000 of them are expected to be vaccinated, with the number at about 1,500 for coaches and their staff members.
The timing of the rollout and other details are expected to be finalized according to availability of the vaccine, the sources said.
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