[Clewza313]

What's sad here is that loss of face and sheer inertia seem to be the primary (only?) reasons the Olympics are still going ahead. Japan's vaccination rates remain pathetic, since only 2% have had even a first shot, so even without the Olympics there's a real risk of one of the new variants laying waste to Japan's elderly population. Something like 8 Olympic torch bearers have already come down with COVID, and they had scheduled the world's oldest person to take part until she wisely pulled out.

[innocenat]

I believe the main reason is cost. If IOC call it off, IOC bear the cancellation cost. If Japan does, Japan bear the cost. So Japan is waiting for IOC to call it off.

[lstamour]

Wow. You're not kidding. And apparently they're not alone: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/17/world/asia/japan-south-ko... (April 17)

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/05/01/national/japan-... says 1.3% as of May 1. It appears things have been partly delayed due to ... well, it's not clear:

> The EU said on Monday that it had authorized some 52.3 million doses made in European factories by companies including Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. for export to Japan, the highest volume among all 43 countries to which vaccines have been shipped.

> As the revelation caught fire on social media, vaccines minister Taro Kono tweeted that the numbers were wrong. His office said in an emailed statement Friday that only 28 million shots from Pfizer had arrived in Japan. Chief Cabinet Secretariat Katsunobu Kato confirmed on the same day news reports that shots of the Moderna vaccine — which the local drug regulator has not yet approved for domestic use — had also been received though did not disclose the number of doses.

And the latest numbers Google gave me was indeed 2%. So it's climbing, but not quickly. They're at least two months behind schedule, I'd suggest.