Japan could call upon the military doctors and nurses from its defence forces to render their services at this year's rearranged Tokyo Olympics, defence minister Nobuo Kishi said in the parliament on Tuesday. Kishi said that his house has received a request pertaining to this matter from the Games organisers, according to DPA reports.
The armed forces have assumed charge of the vaccination centres in Tokyo and Osaka this week to ramp up Japan's extremely slow vaccination process just two months ahead of the scheduled start of the postponed Olympics.
As per Olympics organizers, up to 230 doctors as well as 310 nurses will be needed daily at the Games. So far, around 80 per cent of the requisite medical staff has been secured, they said.
Local organizers and the International Olympic Committee insist the Games can go ahead safely despite Japan fighting a fourth wave of the pandemic and Tokyo being continually put in states of emergency, with the latest extending to the end of this month.
Tokyo 2020 coordination commission chair John Coates pointed out that above 80 per cent of the residents of the Olympic village will have been vaccinated come the marquee event.
Foreign fans will not be permitted to attend the Games, which were delayed from last year, while the numbers attending from federations, sponsors and media have been cut as well to try and limit the spread of infection.
A recent survey conducted by the Kyodo news agency showed that 72 per cent of those polled in Japan are in favour of the Olympics being cancelled or rescheduled due to the pandemic.
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