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Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

japantoday.com

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Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#2
Looks like a few things going on:

Vaccination in JP lags the US and UK. A survey found 75% of locals don't favor foreign visitors for the Olympics. They are fearful of SARS-COV-2 variants.

On the other hand, why not allow foreigners who can prove they are vaccinated with the vaccine that immunizes against variants and also get the locals vaccinated?

And, implicitly, if Japan isn't trusting vaccines, should other countries have similar concerns about free travel?

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#5
post #2

Looks like a few things going on: Vaccination in JP lags the US and UK. A survey found 75% of locals don't favor foreign visitors for the Olympics. They are fearful of SARS-COV-2 variants. On the other hand, why not allow foreigners who can prove they are vaccinated with the vaccine that immunizes against variants and also get the locals vaccinated? And, implicitly, if Japan isn't trusting vaccines, should other coun…

It is not yet confirm that vaccinated people are not able to carry the virus and pass to others. One could still be infected after vaccinated. Please correct me if the latest study or vaccine shows otherwise.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#6
post #2

Looks like a few things going on: Vaccination in JP lags the US and UK. A survey found 75% of locals don't favor foreign visitors for the Olympics. They are fearful of SARS-COV-2 variants. On the other hand, why not allow foreigners who can prove they are vaccinated with the vaccine that immunizes against variants and also get the locals vaccinated? And, implicitly, if Japan isn't trusting vaccines, should other coun…

As far as I know, all versions of the vaccine reduce symptoms for the vaccinated, but they can still catch covid and transmit it to others. That’s a risk to a large unvaccinated local population.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#7

That's too bad. Makes you wonder if they shouldn't cancel or delay for another year (with a reset to the timing of the games that follow) while the vaccines get rolled out and we see how much normalcy can be regained.

It's pretty brutal for the athletes to move the Olympics. It's already such a rare event that having a delay of even a year will mean some of them are missing what would have been their peak year physically - the more you delay it the worse that gets.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#8

That's too bad. Makes you wonder if they shouldn't cancel or delay for another year (with a reset to the timing of the games that follow) while the vaccines get rolled out and we see how much normalcy can be regained.

It's pretty brutal for the athletes to move the Olympics. It's already such a rare event that having a delay of even a year will mean some of them are missing what would have been their peak year physically - the more you delay it the worse that gets.

The past year has been brutal for the entire world, and holding a championship for professional athletes doesn't really justify the billions of dollars Japan has lost in its decision to postpone the Olympics rather than cancel them.

Japan isn't even currently granting long-term work visas for professionals who will contribute to the economy for multiple years, ostensibly to curb spread of the virus. Consequently, it's a bit silly that they will soon be allowing tens of thousands of Olympic employees and athletes to enter the country, who will all be exempt from the standard quarantine procedure.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#9
I feel like this has to be a negotiating tactic to get another year delay out of the IOC. The competitors and support staff alone are already tens of thousands of people, no? There’s just no way they’ll be able to throw the Olympics if they aren’t prepared to open the border.

Re: Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

#10
post #6
post #2

Looks like a few things going on: Vaccination in JP lags the US and UK. A survey found 75% of locals don't favor foreign visitors for the Olympics. They are fearful of SARS-COV-2 variants. On the other hand, why not allow foreigners who can prove they are vaccinated with the vaccine that immunizes against variants and also get the locals vaccinated? And, implicitly, if Japan isn't trusting vaccines, should other coun…

As far as I know, all versions of the vaccine reduce symptoms for the vaccinated, but they can still catch covid and transmit it to others. That’s a risk to a large unvaccinated local population.

This is outdated speculation. The preponderance of current evidence points toward what we expect from previous vaccines -- once you've been immunized, you are incredibly unlikely to transmit the virus to others:

https://reason.com/2021/03/08/contrary-to-what-the-cdcs-new-...

In fact, the CDC just updated it's own guidelines to reflect these same facts:

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/0...

If anything, these guidelines are conservative.

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