By MOMOKO IKEGAMI/ Staff Writer
June 2, 2021 at 19:03 JST
A worker prepares to set up a fence in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park on June 1. (Nobuo Fujiwara)
After coming under heavy criticism, the Tokyo metropolitan government on June 1 scrapped plans to use Yoyogi Park for a public viewing event during the Olympics and instead will set up a mass vaccination center there.
The park in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward will be used to vaccinate employees of the Metropolitan Police Department and Fire Department starting on June 8.
The metropolitan government’s plan to set up public viewing event sites for the Games has drawn fire over concerns that such crowded venues could hasten the spread of novel coronavirus infections at a time most of the Japanese population has yet to be vaccinated.
The metropolitan government last month announced plans to inoculate police officers and firefighters at the former site of the Tsukiji fish market in Chuo Ward from June 8.
But the Tsukiji site can be used for such vaccinations only until the end of this month because it is scheduled to be turned into a depot for vehicles associated with the Summer Games, which open on July 23.
The metropolitan government decided to continue rolling out vaccines for police and firefighters at Yoyogi Park.
The site will still be used for a public viewing event during the Paralympics, which begin on Aug. 24, as was planned.
Public viewing events for the Olympics will be held at sites in Inokashira Park straddling Musashino and Mitaka on the outskirts of Tokyo and the square in front of Chofu Station, along with similar sites in Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Kumamoto prefectures.
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