Novak Djokovic is probably unvaccinated, and has to be vaxxed in order to compete in the Australian Open, unless he gets a medical exemption. So, he got a medical exemption and the Open will let him compete.
Not so fast, says the border guards. He’s stuck at the border right now, because he apparently applied for the wrong visa (maybe?) or has an invalid exemption or something. The Open officials are trying to appeal to the state government, but the state is saying that border issues are strictly a federal issue.
It will be interesting to see if he gets into the country. This thread could be to discuss that, but I’m really interested in anyone’s speculation on what his medical exemption might have said.
Has he mentioned any medical issues in the past? Or, did he just get Serbia’s version of Dr. Ronny Jackson to sign off on whatever?
There are very, very few medical reasons why you can’t use any of the vaccines, and I can’t imagine that someone in prime physical shape like Djokovic would have one of those reasons, but I’m no doctor.
Pretty much agree, it’s almost certainly bullshit. In the unlikely event that it isn’t, the public has no right to know the details of his personal medical condition.
A friend of ours had to travel to some country and had to receive certain vaccines. One of the vaccines had something in it he was allergic to. He assumed they’d waive the requirement, but no. So he was admitted to a hospital, had an IV catheter placed, etc. They vaccinated him and he had only minor issues, none requiring medical intervention.
Yeah, that could happen with some vaccines where there is only one type available. But, there are like three or four totally different classes of vaccines for COVID, and it seems unlikely he would be allergic to all of them.
I think sending the prick home is preferable to having him booed and hounded during the tournament.
There might be a trans-species precedent in the case of Pistol and Boo who were smuggled in flagrant violation of regulations by people who similarly thought their celebrity status meant that the rules didn’t apply
Did his team do any research on what’s going on in Australia with respect to COVID? Totally tone-deaf move to even try to enter if not vaxxed, regardless of what “exemption” the Open organizers gave him.
From what I’ve heard, Australians are very much not happy about Djokovic receiving an exemption. Australia has imposed some of the strictest lockdown rules in the world, including prohibiting Australians from traveling within the country, so I can understand their ire at seeing someone whose apparently gets to ignore the rules because of his wealth and status.
My understanding was that medical teams reviewed and approved Djokovic’s vaccine exemption. Unless there’s something going on off-kilter that can be documented, that should end the matter.
“Djokovic applied for a medical exemption which was granted following a rigorous review process involving two separate independent panels of medical experts,” the statement said. “One of those was the Independent Medical Exemption Review Panel appointed by the Victorian Department of Health. They assessed all applications to see if they met the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation guidelines.”
On the other hand, we apparently just have Aaron Rodgers’ word for it that he’s allergic to “something” in the vaccines. He has the right not to disclose what that ingredient supposedly is, and we have the right to be skeptical, given his previous lack of candor about being vaccinated.
I think it was the tournament medical team, and I guess the Victorian Department of Health, but not the federal authority. And, I think he got a visa for someone who doesn’t need a medical exemption or something.
I imagine it’s something like Florida or NY saying, sure, he meets our requirement, and the tourney saying, sure, we’d love to have him. But, the feds said, hey, Dr. Nick isn’t really a doctor, and brain fever isn’t a real thing.
If someone can’t (or won’t) get a vaccination that’s too bad. A “medical exemption” is not a get-out-of-covid-controls-free card. If the competition requires vaccination then it requires vaccination. Can’t get one? Too bad so sad, you no longer qualify to compete. You either get one or, if you can’t - so sorry.
Given politics in Victoria, the State government would have gotten way more brownie points from the voters for refusing him than giving him an exemption. So I tend to believe that the double-blind review panel really was solid, and they probably didn’t even know it was Djokovic they said “yes” to until they’d actually said “yes”.
They’re probably kicking themselves right now for letting the Feds get the win, by booting him out at the airport.
There seems to be more clarity coming through that Djokovic’s application which was initially approved by vic Health was on the basis of having had COVID (at least once) that he didn’t need vaccination.
This is not the view of Border Security which is under Federal authority.