Olympic and Paralympic athletes in some countries are set to receive Covid-19 vaccinations after an offer from the Chinese Olympic Committee.
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), revealed on Thursday that an agreement had been reached with China to make additional doses available to participants in Tokyo 2020 and also the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
"We are grateful for this offer which is in the true Olympic spirit of solidarity," Bach told the IOC session.
"In this spirit, the IOC will pay for these additional doses of vaccines not only for the Olympic, but also for the Paralympic teams."
Bach added that for each of these additional doses, the IOC would pay for two more to be made available to others in that country.
He said the vaccines would be administered either via collaboration with international partners or in countries where agreements with China regarding vaccinations are already in place.
Japan to stage Olympics 'without overseas spectators'
Japan's government has decided to stage this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without overseas spectators due to concern among the Japanese public about Covid-19, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday.
Kyodo said the government had concluded that welcoming visitors from abroad to attend events would not be possible given public concern about the coronavirus and the detection of more contagious variants in many countries.
The opening ceremony will also be held without spectators.
"The organising committee has decided it is essential to hold the ceremony in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima behind closed doors, only permitting participants and invitees to take part in the event, to avoid large crowds forming amid the pandemic," Kyodo said, quoting the officials.
A formal decision on overseas spectators is expected to be made by the end of the month. The Olympics are set for July 23 to August 8, with the Paralympics to follow from August 24 to September 5.