‘Tokyo Olympics won’t take place unless vaccine is found’

LONDON: The Tokyo Olympics will not take place next year unless a vaccine is found, an expert has claimed. Leading Japanese vaccine researcher Yoshiharu Matsuura told Sky News that the 'only way' thegames could happen before autumn 2021 would be if a 'golden bullet' vaccine is developed.

Scientists around the world are racing to find a vaccine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring this week that his country has made one. But his top doctor quit days later, saying the Sputnik V drug had been rushed through with 'gross violations' of medical ethics.

Speaking to foreign a media outlet Professor Matsuura said: “In Japan, the government is putting a large emphasis on vaccine development and a medicine for the virus because of the Olympics.

“They want to push ahead with the Olympics next year and they say they are saying the only way for that to happen is the vaccine.” The professor is based at Osaka University, where he is working to develop a vaccine at the Research Foundation for Microbial Disease.

Their vaccine is in the pre-clinical stages. Professor Alexander Chuchalin quit the Russian Health Ministry on August 13 following Putin's announcement after making a fierce attack on Moscow's vaccine. The International Olympic Committee has warned that if the Olympics do not take place in 2021 they will have to be cancelled, rather than pushed back again.