Bach: Vaccines won't be 'silver bullet' for staging Olympics

Amid uncertainty about planning Tokyo Olympics, IOC president Thomas Bach said Wednesday that progress with vaccines and rapid testing for COVID-19 would t be complete answer for staging rescheduled games.

“y will t be silver bullet but y can greatly facilitate organization of games,” Bach said at a news conference after an International Olympic Committee board meeting.

While Japanese public has been skeptical about July 23-Aug. 8 games going ahe, Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto said this week "I feel we have to hold m matter what.”

Bach declined Wednesday to speculate on Tokyo Olympics being held without fans in venues as has become global reality for sports in 2020.

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

He asked athletes to accept any demands me of m in traveling to and staying in Japan next year.

“body can just look at him or herself and say ‘I do t want this’ or ‘I don’t think this is fair.’ You have to show solidarity re in order to fight virus,” Bach said. “If you need a quarantine to ensure a safe environment for all participants of games, n you need to go to quarantine.”

Im credits: AP