Tokyo Olympic venues won't have spectators

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Elise Hammond and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 1939 GMT (0339 HKT) July 8, 2021
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3:32 p.m. ET, July 8, 2021

What we know about the spectator ban at some 2020 Olympic venues in Japan

Tokyo venues for the summer Olympics will not have spectators, officials said after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga confirmed the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics will take place under a coronavirus state of emergency.

Here's what else we know:

  • Pandemic struggles: The decision to ban spectators comes as Japan lags behind Western countries in rolling out vaccines. Only 15% of its population are fully vaccinated, compared to 47% in the United States and nearly 50% in the UK, according to CNN's global vaccine tracker. Japan has recorded at least 814,315 cases and 14,865 deaths due to coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic as of Thursday, according to CNN's global cases and deaths tracker.
  • Paralympic Games: Olympic and Tokyo officials say that if the rate of infections changes, they will hold a meeting to review spectator capacity for the Paralympic Games. The group is made up of the government of Japan, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
  • White House lends its support: The White House reaffirmed its support for US athletes traveling to Tokyo, Japan, to compete in the Olympics later this month after Japan's Olympics Committee announced all spectators will be banned from the Tokyo venues at the 2020 Olympic Games. “The President supports the Tokyo Olympic Games and the public health measures necessary to protect athletes, staff, and spectators. He has pride in the US athletes who have trained for Tokyo Games and will be competing in the best traditions of the Olympic spirit,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday. 
1:20 p.m. ET, July 8, 2021

White House reaffirms support for the Olympics despite banning of spectators

From CNN's Betsy Klein

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 8.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 8. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

The White House reaffirmed its support for US athletes traveling to Tokyo, Japan, to compete in the Olympics later this month after Japan's Olympics Committee announced all spectators will be banned from the Tokyo venues at the 2020 Olympic Games. 

“The President supports the Tokyo Olympic Games and the public health measures necessary to protect athletes, staff, and spectators. He has pride in the US athletes who have trained for Tokyo Games and will be competing in the best traditions of the Olympic spirit,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday. 

Japan on Thursday also declared a coronavirus state of emergency for Tokyo amid increasing cases.

The US is in “close contact” with the Japanese government on planning and public health measures.

“We're well aware of the careful preparations, including the public health measures necessary to protect athletes, staff, and spectators, that the government and international committee has undertaken, which is why, as we said, we support the games moving forward," Psaki added.

She reiterated a statement from first lady Jill Biden’s office that the White House is “still assessing the feasibility” of her attendance at the games, noting that the advance team arrives in Tokyo later this week.

12:56 p.m. ET, July 8, 2021

Doctor weighs in: "Japan probably should have canceled this Olympics"

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

With a surge in Covid-19 cases and the country lagging behind in vaccinations, Japan should have canceled the Tokyo Olympics, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, told CNN's John King,

"Japan probably should have canceled this Olympics as big a decision as that would have been and as disappointing as that would be to the Japanese people," Reiner said.

"Japan last week re-instituted a state of emergency in Tokyo for the the coronavirus. It's hard to understand how one can engage in such a huge event when you have a coronavirus state of emergency... doesn't seem to make any sense to me," he said.

1:19 p.m. ET, July 8, 2021

Fauci unconcerned about first lady Jill Biden's potential Olympics attendance

From CNN's Betsy Klein

First Lady Jill Biden listens as President Joe Biden speaks in Miami Beach, Florida, on July 1.
First Lady Jill Biden listens as President Joe Biden speaks in Miami Beach, Florida, on July 1. (Susan Walsh/AP)

Dr. Anthony Fauci expressed confidence in Covid-19 safety protocols at the forthcoming Olympics in Tokyo and suggested that he was not concerned about first lady Jill Biden’s potential attendance at the Games.  

“That’s going to be up to the first lady. I believe that there’s no reason right now, given the situation, the protocol to protect her health I think will be also rather stringent, so I don’t have a concern about that, but the final choice of what she’d do, obviously, is up to her,” Fauci said in response to a question from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

His comments come after Japan's Olympics Committee announced all spectators will be banned from the Tokyo venues at the 2020 Olympic Games. Japan on Thursday also declared a coronavirus state of emergency for Tokyo amid increasing cases. 

Fauci noted “quite strict and stringent” protocols in place for the athletes, which he described as “quite impressive.” 

President Joe Biden suggested last week that his wife was likely to attend the Games, telling reporters, “We’re trying to work that out now. That’s the plan.”

11:55 a.m. ET, July 8, 2021

Tokyo officials to make decision on Paralympic spectators at the end of the Olympic games

From CNN's Aleks Klosok and Elise Hammond

Olympic and Tokyo officials say that if the rate of infections changes, they will hold a meeting to review spectator capacity for the Paralympic Games.

The group is made up of the the Government of Japan, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

In a joint statement, the officials said they will make a decision about spectators at the Paralympic Games when the Olympic Games are over.

"It will now be necessary to make a decision based on the infection situation prevailing at the time. For this reason, the decision regarding the admission of Paralympic event spectators will now be taken when the Olympic Games end," according to the statement.

"The IOC and IPC, respecting this decision, support it in the interest of safe and secure Games for everybody," it added.

The officials said "all five parties deeply regret for the athletes and for the spectators that this measure had to be put in place," referring to the decision to bar fans from the Olympics in Tokyo and keep a state of emergency order in place for the entire duration of the Games.

11:49 a.m. ET, July 8, 2021

Here's why Japan's vaccine rollout has been slow

Elderly residents of Sumida Ward rest at box seats after receiving their first dose of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine at the Ryogoku Kokugikan sporting arena, in Tokyo on Monday, May 24.
Elderly residents of Sumida Ward rest at box seats after receiving their first dose of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine at the Ryogoku Kokugikan sporting arena, in Tokyo on Monday, May 24. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

Japan started inoculating its population of 126 million people with Pfizer-BioNTech shots more than two months after the vaccine rolled out in countries such as the United States and United Kingdom. And after four months, only 15% of its population is fully vaccinated.

With one of the lowest rates of vaccine confidence in the world, the government says its deliberately cautious movement on vaccine approval is to build public trust.

According to a study by The Lancet that mapped vaccine confidence in 149 countries between 2015 and 2019, fewer than 30% of people in Japan strongly agreed vaccines were safe, important and effective — compared to 50% in the US.

"I think it is more important for the Japanese government to show the Japanese people that we have done everything possible to prove the efficacy and the safety of the vaccine — to encourage the Japanese people to take the vaccine," said Taro Kono, the minister in charge of Japan's coronavirus vaccine rollout. "At the end of the day, we might have started slower, but we thought it would be more effective."

A history of scandals:

Japan's vaccine resistance dates back to the 1970s, when two infants died within 24 hours after receiving the combined diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination. The vaccine was temporarily suspended but confidence had already been rattled. For several years, infant vaccination rates fell, leading to a rise in cases of whooping cough.

In the late 1980s, there was another scare with the introduction of a Japanese-produced measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. After court action and a hefty damages payout, the combined shot was discontinued in 1993 and replaced with individual vaccines.

Dr. Yuho Horikoshi, an expert in infectious diseases, says the lawsuits led to a "vaccination gap," where no vaccines were approved in Japan for about 15 years.

Read more on this history here.

11:30 a.m. ET, July 8, 2021

Here's what it looked like the last time Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics

From CNN's Alyssa Kraus

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics — which were rescheduled to this year because of Covid-19 —will not be the first time Japan has hosted the event. In 1964, Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics, which also happened to be the first time the Olympics had ever been held in Asia.

Despite being the Summer Olympics, the Games were held in October to avoid the heat and humidity, along with the typhoon season in September.

Japan later hosted two Winter Olympics in 1972 and 1998.

Here's a look back at the 1964 event:

People attend the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
People attend the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. (AP)
Torchbearers run through the rain on their way to the National Stadium in Tokyo in October 1964.
Torchbearers run through the rain on their way to the National Stadium in Tokyo in October 1964. (AP)
A woman wears traditional clothing at the opening ceremony on October 10, 1964.
A woman wears traditional clothing at the opening ceremony on October 10, 1964. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
A pole vaulter clears the bar during competition.
A pole vaulter clears the bar during competition. (AP)
American wrestler Gregory Ruth, left, takes on Mongolia's Sereeter Danzandarjaa.
American wrestler Gregory Ruth, left, takes on Mongolia's Sereeter Danzandarjaa. (AP)
Flags are raised during an award ceremony for a men's gymnastics event. Japan's Yukio Endo won the parallel bars. Shuji Tsurumi won silver, and Italy's Franco Menichelli won bronze.
Flags are raised during an award ceremony for a men's gymnastics event. Japan's Yukio Endo won the parallel bars. Shuji Tsurumi won silver, and Italy's Franco Menichelli won bronze. (Naoshi Murayama/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP)

View more photos here.

11:04 a.m. ET, July 8, 2021

Japan has recorded more than 800,000 cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic

People walk past a public awareness sign for social distancing to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus Tuesday, June 22, in Tokyo.
People walk past a public awareness sign for social distancing to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus Tuesday, June 22, in Tokyo. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

Japan has recorded at least 814,315 cases and 14,865 deaths due to coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic as of today, according to CNN's global cases and deaths tracker.

"The number of infected cases in the area including Tokyo has been increasing since the end of last month," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshide Suga said.

"The number of severe cases and bed occupancy rate continues to be on the low level, but considering the impact of variants, we need to enhance countermeasures so that the infection will not spread nationwide," he added.

10:47 a.m. ET, July 8, 2021

Only about 15% of Japan is fully vaccinated

A local resident receives the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine shot at a center on Wednesday, June 30, in the Sumida ward of Tokyo.
A local resident receives the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine shot at a center on Wednesday, June 30, in the Sumida ward of Tokyo. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

Only 15.1% of Japan's population is fully vaccinated, according to CNN's global vaccine tracker. The country is lagging behind Western countries in rolling out its vaccination drive, with 47% in the United States and nearly 50% in the UK fully vaccinated.

With more than four months since the vaccine rollout began in Japan, about 52,643,860 doses have been administered in total as of Tuesday.