Vaccines not silver bullets but will help organise Olympics: IOC president

Tokyo: Even though the availability of vaccines or rapid testing may not be a solution to conducting the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, they will be of great help in organising the Games next year, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has said.

The Games had to be postponed to July next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but a number of experts and residents in Tokyo have expressed doubts over whether it could be conducted even on the new dates.

“They will not be the silver bullet but they can greatly facilitate the organisation of the games,” Bach said when asked about vaccines at a news conference after an IOC Board meeting.

“We don’t know how the world looks like tomorrow,” Bach said. “So, how can you expect from us to know how the world looks in 320 days from today?”

Bach also said that athletes will have to be co-operative and adhere to whatever safety guidelines there may be during the Olympics.

“Nobody can just look at him[self] or herself and say ‘I do not want this’ or ‘I don’t think this is fair’. You have to show solidarity there in order to fight the virus,” Bach said. “If you need a quarantine to ensure a safe environment for all the participants of the games, then you need to go to quarantine.”