Nobel Prize-winning Japanese Professor to Prime Minister Abe: "Tokyo Olympics Difficult with Vaccines Alone"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Shinya Yamanaka, director of the iPS Cell Research Institute at the University of Tokyo and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine, expressed the view that even if a vaccine for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is developed, it would be very difficult to create an environment that would allow the Tokyo Olympics to be held solely based on that.

On the 6th, Yamanaka appeared on an internet broadcast jointly prepared by the Japanese portal site Yahoo and the video service site Niconico, where he exchanged opinions with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and shared this perspective.

Prime Minister Abe mentioned the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, which were originally scheduled to be held this year but postponed by one year due to COVID-19, saying, "To make the Olympics a success, Japan also wants to take a leading role in promoting the development of therapeutic drugs and vaccines."

In response, Yamanaka said that the one-year postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, rather than a two-year delay, "posed a tremendous challenge to researchers," citing practical difficulties.

He went on to mention that, given the nature of the Olympics, where many athletes and spectators from around the world gather, "As a researcher, I honestly think it would be quite difficult to prepare a large quantity of vaccines within a year to make this possible, unless there is considerable luck. I believe it would be hard to rely on vaccines alone."

Yamanaka expressed greater hope for therapeutic drugs rather than vaccines but noted that it would be difficult to develop new drugs in time for the Olympics. He added that if existing drugs could mitigate the threat of COVID-19, the situation might change.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.