Only 14% of Team GB athletes and their support staff have yet to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, with the vast majority of those due their first dose this week, the British Olympic Association have revealed.

With less than 50 days to go until the opening ceremony of the reorganised Games, BOA chair Sir Hugh Robertson - the Olympics minister during London 2012 - has written to Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto to stress Team GB are 'doing everything possible to minimise any risk to the people of Japan'.

And he insists they intend on their team being 'fully vaccinated' before they travel.

In addition, athletes and support staff will commit to go beyond Tokyo's own guidelines - undertaking a rigorous testing and isolation programme for the final 14 days before they depart for Japan.

"It's our priority to protect not only the health of our athletes and wider delegation, but our hosts in Tokyo," said British Olympic Association chief executive Andy Anson.

"Our relationships in Japan are incredibly important to us and we would not do anything to jeopardise them, to the extent that we are going over-and-above the Playbook requirements with our testing and isolation protocols.

"Everyone will undergo a PCR test 14 days prior to travel and regular lateral flow tests thereafter, as we also shield ourselves for the final build-up to the Games. That will mean avoiding close contacts, or going to crowded or indoor spaces.

"We'll then take two PCR tests within 96 hours of travel, before a final test on the day of departure. We're doing all we can, and more than we need to, to ensure our delegation is Covid free upon arrival in Japan."

The British Olympic Association's commitment comes on the day one of Japan's most senior virologists, Professor Hitoshi Oshitani, said it was impossible to stage the Games without the risk of it becoming a 'super-spreader event'.

Medical professionals in Japan continue to express concern about new variants and a probable fifth spike in cases and some have called vocally for a cancellation, which would cost an estimated US$16.5 billion.

But as Japan's fourth wave of infections recedes, with major cities still under state of emergency measures, new polling today found a majority of the public in favour of the Games going ahead as planned, a major shift from the previous national survey.