Pfizer Inc
Participants wearing face masks pose for a group photo after a launch ceremony to reveal the motto for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. Organizers on Friday announced "Together for a Shared Future" as the motto of the next Olympics, which is scheduled to begin on Feb. 4 of next year. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
IOC urges Olympic teams to ask for more vaccines

Sep. 17, 2021 06:51 AM EDT

A flypast with Olympic-colored smoke by Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Blue Impulse team passes over the Tokyo Metropolitan Government complex during the final torch relay event for the Tokyo Olympics in Tokyo Friday, July 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Kantaro Komiya)
In venue fit for head of state, Japan PM seeks Pfizer doses

By Mari Yamaguchi Jul. 23, 2021 02:20 AM EDT

In this March 2021 photo provided by Pfizer, a technician inspects filled vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the company's facility in Puurs, Belgium. On Friday, July 9, 2021, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is made up of 99.9% graphene oxide, a toxic compound. But, chemical and medical experts who are not associated with Pfizer confirmed to The Associated Press that there is no way graphene oxide would be found in the vaccine. (Pfizer via AP)
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

By The Associated Press Jul. 09, 2021 02:22 PM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2020, file photo, IOC President Thomas Bach visits the National Stadium, the main venue for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games postponed until July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Tokyo. Bach has canceled a trip in May 2021 to Japan because of surging cases of COVID-19 in the country, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Monday, May 10, 2021 in a statement. The trip was made impossible because of a state of emergency in Tokyo and other parts of the country that has been extended until May 31. (Behrouz Mehri/Pool Photo via AP, Fo;e)
South Africa shows the complexities of IOC's vaccine offer

By Gerald Imray May. 28, 2021 01:49 PM EDT

Elderly people go out of the newly-opened mass vaccination center after receiving the Moderna coronavirus vaccine in Tokyo, Monday, May 24, 2021. Japan mobilized military doctors and nurses to give shots to elderly people in Tokyo and Osaka on Monday as the government desperately tries to accelerate its vaccination rollout and curb coronavirus infections just two months before hosting the Olympics. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Japan opens mass vaccine centers 2 months before Olympics

By Mari Yamaguchi May. 23, 2021 11:10 PM EDT

Brazil team members, from left, Paulo Andre Camilo de Oliveira, Derick Silva, Felipe Bardi dos Santos and Rodrigo do Nascimento pose for a photo after the Men's 4x100 Metres Relay final in the Athletics World Relays Championships - Silesia21 in Chorzow, Poland, Sunday, May 2, 2021. (AP Photo /Czarek Sokolowski)
Brazil to vaccinate athletes, coaches for Tokyo Olympics

By Mauricio Savarese May. 11, 2021 07:42 PM EDT

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga responds to a reporter's question after he spoke at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, May 7, 2021. Suga announced an extension of a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas through May 31. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Packed trains, drinking: Japanese impatient over virus steps

By Mari Yamaguchi May. 06, 2021 10:53 PM EDT

A medical worker holds a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Tokyo Medical Center in Tokyo Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Japan's first coronavirus shots were given to health workers Wednesday, beginning a vaccination campaign considered crucial to holding the already delayed Tokyo Olympics. (Behrouz Mehri/Pool Photo via AP)
Japan starts COVID-19 vaccinations with eye on Olympics

By Mari Yamaguchi Feb. 17, 2021 12:28 AM EST

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, second from right, speaks during a meeting of the coronavirus infection control headquarters at his office in Tokyo Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Suga, in a speech earlier, said the vaccine is “the clincher” in the fight against the pandemic and vowed to start vaccinations as soon as late February, when a health ministry approval of the Pfizer vaccine, the first applicant, is expected. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP)
Japan vaccination uncertainty casts doubts over Olympics

By Mari Yamaguchi Jan. 22, 2021 05:33 AM EST

Former Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), bump elbows after a ceremony to present the Olympic Order to Abe at Japan Olympic Museum in Tokyo Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. (Kim Kyung-hoon/Pool Photo via AP)
Bach: Tokyo Olympic 'participants' encouraged to get vaccine

By Stephen Wade Nov. 16, 2020 12:59 AM EST

Audience members cheer for Wataru Tanigawa of Japan as he competes in the rings during an international gymnastics meet in Tokyo on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. Gymnasts from four countries of China, Russia, U.S. and Japan performed in the meet at Yoyogi National Stadium First Gymnasium, a venue planned to be used in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the summer 2021. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Olympic leaders raise hopes for safe Tokyo Games with fans

By Graham Dunbar Nov. 11, 2020 02:19 PM EST

Judging members watch Alexandra Shchekoldina of Russia perform in a floor exercise event during an international gymnastics meet in Tokyo on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. Gymnasts from four countries of China, Russia, U.S. and Japan performed in the meet at Yoyogi National Stadium First Gymnasium, a venue planned to be used in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the summer 2021. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Tokyo Olympic officials talk of test events early next year

By Stephen Wade Nov. 10, 2020 12:17 AM EST