John Oliver Sounds Alarm Over 2021 Tokyo Olympics: ‘The Pandemic is Still Very Much Not Over’

John Oliver argued against going forward with the upcoming Summer Olympics, noting that the daily death rate in Japan is higher than it was when the games were postponed last year.

The games are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 in Tokyo, yet Japan is still distributing roughly 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine shots a day, which is only half of its target.

“That’s not good,” Oliver said on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight. “In fact, only 6 percent of the Japanese population is currently fully vaccinated. And while I don’t know what the target percentage should be to host safely host the Olympics, I’m pretty sure that right now, it should be higher than the number of entries in the Fast and the Furious franchise.”

Oliver predicted that while the “pandemic is still very much not over,” organizers are likely basing their decision to go forward on financial reasons, as the country has already spent at least $15.4 billion — yet “not everyone in Japan is thrilled about that.”

The host then aired footage of protestors, along with Shigeru Omi, whom he described as “Japan’s version of Dr. [Anthony] Fauci,” claiming that the “situation is not normal.”

“Hosting the Olympics is never a good idea for a city. And it’s not like Japan needs the Olympics to boost tourism,” Oliver concluded. “While I truly hope for everyone’s benefit that this works out, you can’t help feeling that the main motivator in this even taking place is money. So, will it be worth it?”

Watch above, via YouTube.

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