04/19/24
January 05, 2022
Unvaccinated Novak Djokovic Can't Enter Australia: Australia has blocked Novak Djokovic from entering the country because his visa does not permit medical exemptions from vaccinated. Djokovic flew to Melbourne Wednesday after the Australia Open gave him a medical exemption without explaining why he was exempt. But the country wasn't as keen on letting him in.
Was Novax Djokovic too easy of a joke for you?
posted by NoMich at 09:20 PM on January 05, 2022
If Novak is uncomfortable in Melbourne, they can ship him off to NZ, which may have even stricter Covid guidelines. If he flies into Wellington, they'll likely sequester him in the high ranges west of the Basin Reserve.
In the meantime, while Djokovic is in Melbourne, the Australian government ought to have their medical exemption rules explained to him by Kitty Flanagan.
posted by beaverboard at 10:54 PM on January 05, 2022
Was Novax Djokovic too easy of a joke for you?
Ha! Even Justin Tucker has missed a PAT.
posted by rcade at 09:25 AM on January 06, 2022
I appreciate Australia standing their ground here. If you're going to have a policy in place for public safety, your reasons for allowing individual exemption from it have got to be more compelling than "sports star wants to play in a tournament."
posted by bender at 09:47 AM on January 06, 2022
If anyone on this planet knows how destructive an outside force can be to an isolated environment, it's Australia.
posted by NoMich at 10:43 AM on January 06, 2022
How do you spend your whole career trusting doctors and having surgeries as needed to get back to playing form -- like Novax and Aaron Rodgers -- and then not trust them for something like a vaccine?
posted by rcade at 03:55 PM on January 06, 2022
Not sure Novax is trusting doctors about surgery, he apparently is upset with himself over the elbow surgery he agreed to have a few years back and Agassi quit as his coach over his medical views.
posted by billsaysthis at 03:25 PM on January 07, 2022
He made the choice, he knows the likely consequences. Great player and the Open will miss him. But stop with the "hostage" bullshit already.