Vaccination and Immunization

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      Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson's N.B.A. Returns Prompt Divergent Questions

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      Thompson’s comeback restores the Warriors’ backcourt, one of the most symbiotic connections in sports. Irving’s return raises concerns about the Nets’ lineup disruptions.It is a tale of two returns.Kyrie Irving is back with the Nets — well, on a part-time basis at least — after spending the season sidelined for reasons of his own making: the stubborn refusal of a Covid-19 vaccination.Klay Thompson will soon suit up for the Golden State Warriors after 30 months in which unlikely injuries pried him away from basketball. Thirty months, two and a half seasons, of hard and sometimes heartbreaking rehab.Thompson’s comeback brings us the opportunity to marvel again at one of the most symbiotic connections in sports. From 2012 until his initial injury in 2019, Thompson and Stephen Curry, his close friend and backcourt mate, offered steady lessons in combined greatness: ballet-like cutting and passing, orbital jumpers from every angle — all of it performed in remarkable tandem.We finally get to see Klay and Steph, Part II.Thompson’s return does bring about questions, but they are as simple and straightforward as his pull-up 3-pointers. Will he return to the All-Star form that helped lead Golden State to three N.B.A. titles? And if so, how long will it take?Stephen Curry, left, has kept the Warriors atop the standings, but nothing will feel quite right until Thompson is back in the mix.Jeff Chiu/Associated PressIrving’s comeback is another matter altogether. His return is a gamble. First, it sends a dubious message about personal responsibility during a public crisis. It also leaves the Nets in a muddle. The team is close to realizing its significant dreams, even as it now operates under the shadow of Irving’s most recent act: Here one game, gone the next.Few in basketball have ever been as elusive as Irving is when he winds through opposing teams and slices down the court — a fact underscored by Irving’s return to the Nets on Wednesday, when he scored 22 points and helped lead the team back from a 19-point deficit to defeat the Indiana Pacers, 129-121.Irving is just as hard to pin down off the hardwood. There may not be an N.B.A. point guard as fine at getting his teammates involved with pinpoint passing. But he also has a reputation for a history of being an erratic personality who can just as easily implode teams. (See: Boston Celtics; Cleveland Cavaliers.)Irving’s belief that the earth is flat? That was once a funny sideshow that he couldn’t quite explain in any manner that made sense.His refusal to be vaccinated during a pandemic that has killed at least 5 million worldwide and more than 830,000 Americans, with many of the hardest-hit communities being the Black and Brown neighborhoods that Irving takes pride in helping? That’s a perplexing travesty.What a difference three months makes in this troubled world. In October, Nets officials were adamant they would not allow Irving on their team so long as he refused to abide by New York City mandates requiring workers at venues as large as the Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden to inoculate against the virus.Why bother if Irving could play only when the team was on the road?“Each member of our organization must pull in the same direction,” General Manager Sean Marks said.Of course, the Nets waffled. Like almost every team in the N.B.A., they’ve been trotting out patchwork lineups filled with minor-league replacements because Covid-19 protocols have sidelined so many regulars. Never mind that by this week, every player kept from the team because of positive coronavirus tests had returned — the Nets had cover to reverse course on Irving.Brooklyn made a business decision, altering its stated principles, even as New York City finds itself swamped by another surge fueled by another coronavirus variant in this plague. Irving is back, adding to the bottom line that really matters in sports: winning and the heady financial rewards that come with it.The Nets, already gifted with Kevin Durant and James Harden, are chasing a championship and Irving’s return brings with him not questions of wonder and potential, but of logistics.With Irving, left, James Harden, and Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets’ big three has the talent to win a championship.Darron Cummings/Associated PressDoes Kyrie Irving give the Nets the best chance to win a championship if he can’t play at home, in Manhattan against the crosstown Knicks or in Toronto versus the rival Raptors because vaccination is a requisite for entering Canada?The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 6The global surge. More

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      Novak Djokovic and Fellow Star Vaccine Skeptics Are Increasingly Scorned

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      The tennis star is the latest target of a public outcry against vaccine skeptics and stars wanting special treatment. Denied entry to Australia, he awaits a hearing Monday on his deportation.In a less dangerous time, a more forgiving public viewed Novak Djokovic’s nontraditional views of science and health as the quirky characteristics of a hyperactive seeker with strongly held beliefs about everything from sports to spirituality.He has sat inside a pressurized, egg-shaped pod during major tournaments, believing it would improve circulation, boost his red-blood cell production and rid his muscles of lactic acid. He supported the concept that prayer and faith could purify toxic water. Djokovic and other high-profile athletes with unorthodox approaches to health were a source of bemusement for a public that, for better or for worse, has long treated them as role models. These quirks as seemingly harmless as a bowl of quarterback Tom Brady’s avocado ice cream.Not anymore.Djokovic, an outspoken skeptic of vaccines, will spend the weekend detained in a hotel room in Melbourne, Australia, waiting out a legal appeal and expected hearing on Monday in hopes of gaining entry to the country following a public and political outcry over the medical exemption he received to play in the Australian Open without being vaccinated. The Australian Border Force rejected his paperwork supporting that exemption on Wednesday.The pitched battle over what was supposed to be his quest for a record 10th Australian Open men’s singles championship has highlighted a new dynamic for stars like Djokovic. The latest surge of coronavirus cases and the ongoing struggle to exit the pandemic have shifted public perceptions: Athletes once viewed favorably as iconoclasts are now encountering pushback when they want to play by different rules than everyone else.“The general public continues to respond positively if an athlete is speaking out on topics that make a difference in society and make peoples lives better,” said Michael Lynch, the former director of sports marketing for Visa and a longtime consultant to the sports industry. “But if someone takes a position that put peoples’ lives at risk, then they are going to have very negative reaction.”The fame that comes with athletic success has provided Djokovic and other top athletes who oppose the coronavirus vaccines, like the N.F.L. quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the star basketball player Kyrie Irving, with platforms to promote causes they believed in and to collect millions of dollars to promote products. But in recent months, their high profiles have become a liability as their behavior and their views supported misinformation and put public safety at risk.Djokovic after winning the Australian Open last year.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesFor sports organizations and leagues, the stakes are high. For more than a decade, access to social media has given sports stars the ability to become more outspoken and impactful than ever. As long as what they say has not been offensive or polarizing, they provided free, mostly positive publicity for their sports, their causes and their own brands.The vaccination issue has changed the equation for sports, whose return in 2020 was viewed positively when they modeled safe behavior, such as mask wearing, playing before sparse crowds or no one at all, and participating in regular testing. The behavior and outspokenness of Djokovic, Rodgers, Irving and others against vaccines has jeopardized that good will, and organizations are now tightening their rules to play defense.The N.C.A.A. said on Thursday that, in many instances, it would not consider players or coaches “fully vaccinated” unless they had also received a booster shot.The Novak Djokovic Standoff with AustraliaWhat Happened: The No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player was refused entry to Australia over questions about a Covid vaccine exemption.Understand the Standoff: Mr. Djokovic, a vaccine skeptic, was granted an exemption that would allow him to defend his Australian Open title. Then the federal government stepped in.A Difficult Moment in Australia: Barring the tennis star offers a chance to change the subject as an election looms and cases are at record highs.Exemption Skepticism: Here’s how the tennis world initially reacted to the news that Djokovic was granted an exemption.Although the guidance is not binding on schools and conferences, it is influential, especially with the N.C.A.A.-run Division I basketball tournaments scheduled to begin in March.“You’re allowed to have your own beliefs, but once those beliefs start to impact other people, that is where things begin to get a little dodgy,” said Patrick McEnroe, the former professional tennis player who is now a commentator for ESPN.That dynamic came to a head in Australia on Wednesday when federal border police detained Djokovic at a Melbourne airport.Djokovic, a Serb who has won 20 Grand Slam tournament singles championships, had flown to Australia to defend his title in the Australian Open following the announcement that he had received a medical exemption from receiving a vaccine for an undisclosed reason. The exemption came from two panels of medical experts working on behalf of the organization that stages the tournament and the government of Victoria, the state that includes the tournament site, Melbourne. But while Djokovic was en route to Australia from Dubai, the public and some politicians began to voice their anger that Djokovic, the No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player, had seemingly received unjustified special treatment.Roughly 80 percent of Australians have received at least one dose of a vaccination. Australians have endured some of the most stringent prohibitions to prevent the spread of the virus, including lockdowns that lasted hundreds of days and strict limits on travel. With the country averaging roughly 30,000 new cases a day, Australians were no longer willing to tolerate an outspoken critic of vaccines getting what seemed like a questionable special pass.Border officials, with the support of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other top federal officials, subsequently rejected Djokovic’s efforts to enter Australia on the grounds that his medical exemption was not valid.Michael Payne, the former chief marketing officer for the International Olympic Committee, said Djokovic had gotten “caught in political power play between different government departments who should have told him upfront, ‘no vaccine, no play.’”Perhaps, but Djokovic also could have avoided his troubles by simply getting vaccinated, as hundreds of millions of people have done during the past 12 months, either because they wanted to follow public health guidance or because employers or governments required it.Same for Irving, the Nets guard who has steadfastly refused to get vaccinated. Irving’s refusal has made him ineligible to play in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, because New York City requires people working indoors to be vaccinated.Kyrie Irving on the bench in his first game back with the Nets after being away from the team because he is not vaccinated.Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesThe Nets had kept him off their roster for the first two months of the season. Then, as their losses mounted, the team opted to essentially make him a part-time employee who will play only in arenas in cities that don’t prohibit unvaccinated people from working indoors.He scored 22 points Wednesday night in his first game of the season against the Indiana Pacers, but he will continue to be a symbol of everything the N.B.A. has tried to avoid during the pandemic: being seen as a potential danger to the public. And that public has dwindling patience for anyone who may be hindering efforts to end the pandemic.Meanwhile, Rodgers, who is a folk hero in the Midwest, has the Green Bay Packers one win away from securing the top seed in the N.F.C. for the playoffs, which begin next week. Rodgers was criticized and ridiculed in November, when he tested positive for the coronavirus after months of making misleading statements about whether he was vaccinated. He also violated N.F.L. rules for unvaccinated players, including not wearing a mask while he was speaking with journalists. He missed a game while isolating and recovering from his illness. The N.F.L. fined the Packers $300,000 for enabling his behavior.Rodgers explained his decision to not get vaccinated by saying he had read hundreds of pages of studies and received treatments to prevent infection, treatments that scientists have either debunked or that have not proved effective, including a veterinary drug. He quickly became an object of widespread scorn then blamed cancel culture for his treatment.The star vaccine resistors do have their supporters. Djokovic’s family on Thursday held rallies in Belgrade, where his father, Srdjan, accused Morrison, the Australian prime minister, of holding his son “captive” for his beliefs and trampling on all of Serbia, where Djokovic is a hallowed treasure.He also read a message that he said was from Djokovic: “God sees everything. Moral and ethics as the greatest ideals are the shining stars towards spiritual ascension. My grace is spiritual and theirs is material wealth.”Djokovic’s chief rival, Rafael Nadal, who is in Australia ahead of playing in the Open, offered a less-than-sympathetic take on the dispute Thursday.“In some way I feel sorry for him,” said Nadal, who has long supported vaccine efforts. “But at the same time, he knew the conditions since a lot of months ago, so he makes his own decision.”Alan Blinder contributed reporting. More

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      Kyrie Irving Shows Why the Nets Would Make an Exception

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      Kyrie Irving’s part-time status will be complicated — he still can’t play in home games — but his return drew praise from his team’s other stars.The Nets find themselves in a basketball paradox: They have championship aspirations, yet it might be in their best interests to lose a few more games on the way to the playoffs — and play their way into a lower seed once they arrive.What good is hosting a Game 7, after all, if one of your biggest stars can play only in road games?That was one of the questions swirling on Wednesday night when the Nets entered a new phase of their bizarre season by welcoming back Kyrie Irving — part time — after having exiled him for the first 35 games of the season because of his choice to remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus.That decision had ruled Irving out of games in Brooklyn’s home arena, in a city where players must be vaccinated, and for months the Nets had insisted they would not accept even a player of Irving’s talents in a part-time role. But last month, amid a coronavirus outbreak that had depleted the roster, the team relented. And in only four quarters on Wednesday in Indianapolis, Irving, a seven-time All-Star, made it easy to see why the Nets made that call.After a somewhat rusty start, Irving found his groove and began to look like the star the Nets had signed in free agency in 2019. He helped lead the Nets out of a 19-point deficit against the Indiana Pacers, on the way to a 129-121 victory, finishing with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Ten of those points came in the fourth quarter, when the Nets overtook the Pacers.“I’ve had a lot of debuts, but nothing comes close to this one,” Irving said. “It meant a little bit more. Just because at this stage, taking off eight months or being out of the game for eight months and coming back in, there’s so much uncertainty.”It was certainly unusual. And to highlight its awkwardness, Irving will immediately head back to banishment: The Nets’ next two games are at home in New York City, where his vaccination status prevents him from playing as a result of a policy put in place by the city’s former mayor, Bill de Blasio, and that applies to public-facing places like gyms and restaurants.If Irving remains unvaccinated, he will be available — barring other injuries or absences — for 21 of the team’s 46 remaining regular-season games. (Local health restrictions mean that in addition to the games in Brooklyn, Irving also cannot play games against the Raptors in Toronto or the Knicks in Manhattan.)With rosters having become difficult to fill with wave after wave of players being ruled out because of coronavirus protocols, the Nets have chosen to treat Irving as a recurring guest star — someone they hope can make high-impact cameos on their quest to win a championship. Wednesday offered a glimpse of the obvious benefits of the on-again, off-again solution the Nets have chosen.“His game is just so beautiful,” the star forward Kevin Durant said of Irving. “Makes the game so much easier for everybody out there.”It took only one half for the rust to be shaken free. Irving showed off his court vision with a slick lookaway pass to Nicolas Claxton in the second quarter. He displayed his ability to create space for himself off the dribble, and provided an extra shooter on the floor. When the game was tight, Irving provided the final push for the Nets.The return of Irving should help create some flexibility in the Nets’ lineups, leading to more space, and more rest, for James Harden and Kevin Durant. Darron Cummings/Associated PressMost important — at least in the games he plays — Irving offers the Nets a reliable option to take the load off James Harden and Durant, who have frequently put the Nets’ offense on their shoulders. On the nights when Irving is available, Coach Steve Nash will have the ability to sit Harden and Durant at the same time, and allow Irving to run the offense with bench units. Irving’s presence alone draws defenders, which creates room for players like LaMarcus Aldridge and Patty Mills to get open jumpers. He can also give Durant and Harden more freedom to move without the ball.In simple terms, the Nets have been a barely above average team offensively this season, with an offensive rating that ranks 12th among the N.B.A.’s 30 teams despite the presence of Durant and Harden. They will now have the ability to inject one of the best offensive players in the league into their team — sometimes.Asked about Irving’s performance in his return, Nash paused.“Looks like himself,” Nash said with a laugh. He added: “You can see the rhythm was there, but it’s still an adaptation. We’ve got to give him some space.”With that space, the team is gambling that having a star part-timer matters more than building continuity. It’s a grand experiment to shuffle a star in and out of a starting lineup. And this group of stars — Irving, Harden and Durant — has had minimal time to play together. Last season, when Durant returned from an injury and Harden was added in a trade, the three rarely took the floor together.“It’s going to take time just because we have to get used to him being on the road and not at home, things like that,” Harden said. “But this has been a resilient group all year.”The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 6The global surge. More

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      Novak Djokovic Collides With Australia’s Covid Fight

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      Barring the tennis star from entering the country offers a chance to change the subject as an election looms and coronavirus cases are at record highs.MELBOURNE, Australia — When Australia’s prime minister explained on Thursday why his government had barred Novak Djokovic, the men’s tennis superstar, from entering the country, he described it as “simply a matter of following the rules” requiring coronavirus vaccinations for incoming travelers.“People are put on planes and turned back all the time,” the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said.But Mr. Djokovic, who had a visa to travel to Australia and a vaccination exemption to compete in the Australian Open, collided not just with the country’s tough border restrictions after arriving at a Melbourne airport. He also found himself at the center of a highly charged moment in Australia’s fight against the coronavirus.With an election on the horizon, a sharp shift in pandemic strategy — from “Covid-zero” to “living with the virus” — has put Mr. Morrison’s government under intense pressure. Cases have surged to once unimaginable heights, pushing the country’s testing system to the limit and raising anxiety among a population that has already endured long lockdowns.After nearly two years of suppressing the virus, the Australian authorities began to change tack late last year as vaccination rates reached ambitious thresholds. Harsh restrictions that once kept people from traveling between states or to other countries, or from even leaving their homes, have been replaced by adages about “personal responsibility.”Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open last year. Dismissive toward the pandemic, he has emerged as professional tennis’s most prominent vaccine skeptic.Ben Solomon for The New York TimesThe government was stepping back, however, just as the Omicron variant began to circulate. The country passed 10,000 new daily cases for the first time on Dec. 27, and the daily caseload has since surged to over 60,000.Deaths and hospitalizations have so far remained relatively stable. But the country’s testing system, devised to trace and suppress small outbreaks, has been overwhelmed by the explosion of cases, with reports of residents lining up for upward of six hours to get PCR tests and waiting nearly a week for results.Shortages of rapid antigen tests have left pharmacy and supermarket shelves bare, and there are concerns about hospital capacity amid reports that some coronavirus-positive nurses have been called back to work because of staffing gaps.All of that has left little sympathy in Australia for Mr. Djokovic, who has been dismissive toward the pandemic and emerged as professional tennis’s most prominent vaccine skeptic.That is particularly true in Melbourne, where the Australian Open is held, and where residents have endured a total of 256 days of lockdown, in part to spare the rest of Australia from outbreaks. Unvaccinated Melburnians are still barred from some activities, and those wishing to watch the Australian Open must be vaccinated.Melbourne last month. Australia passed 10,000 new daily Covid cases for the first time on Dec. 27, and the daily caseload has since surged to over 60,000.Diego Fedele/Getty Images“Against this background of community anxiety and in the context of a public fatigued by extended coronavirus lockdowns and scrambling to access vaccine booster shots,” said Paul Strangio, a politics professor at Monash University in Melbourne, it was inevitable that news of Mr. Djokovic’s vaccination exemption “was going to provoke howls of outrage.”For Mr. Morrison, a conservative who is looking to extend his tenure as prime minister after winning an election upset in 2019, the Djokovic case offers a chance to change the subject. After days of harsh criticism over his government’s failure to secure adequate supplies of at-home tests and its reluctance to provide them at no charge, he is now championing the country’s strong defense of its borders to safeguard the population.Mr. Morrison has appeared to embrace the decision to turn Mr. Djokovic away at the border as his coalition is trailing in public polls, with the main opposition party lashing him over the shortfalls in rapid antigen tests.“I think the government, under pressure, was looking to make a decision that was broadly popular and which would consume the attention of those watching federal politics,” said Mark Kenny, an expert in politics at the Australian National University.“Up until this decision, the overwhelming political issue was rapid antigen tests, and suddenly all the attention swings to this dramatic decision,” Professor Kenny added.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the decision to bar Mr. Djokovic from entering the country was “simply a matter of following the rules.”Lukas Coch/EPA, via ShutterstockThere is also a less flattering light in which to view the baffling turn of events that led Mr. Djokovic to be questioned for hours by border officials before being sent to hotel quarantine pending a legal appeal scheduled for early next week.The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 6The global surge. 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      Australia Denies Entry to Novak Djokovic Over Vaccine Exemption

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      Whether it’s reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, Times Video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world.Whether it’s reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, Times Video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. More

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      Skepticism and anger greet Novak Djokovic’s vaccine exemption.

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      Some Australians reacted with fury at the announcement from the world’s No. 1 male tennis player, the sport’s most prominent vaccination skeptic.The news that Novak Djokovic had received a medical exemption to play in the Australian Open tournament this month in Melbourne spurred a range of reactions in Australia, where some politicians and tennis officials called on him to explain himself.Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 male tennis player and a prominent vaccination skeptic, announced on social media on Tuesday that he was “heading Down Under with an exemption permission.”The tournament’s organizers confirmed that he had been granted a medical exemption after a review process by two independent panels, a procedure that suggested he remained unvaccinated.Reaction among the pro tennis elite was somewhat measured. After Alex de Minaur and James Duckworth, who are both from Australia, absorbed the news, Duckworth said at a news briefing at the ATP Cup in Sydney, “If he’s fit the criteria, then, yeah, he should be able to come.”“That’s very politically correct of you,” de Minaur replied with a laugh. He added, “I just think it’s just very interesting; that’s all I’m going to say.”Other Australians used social media to express their anger at the decision. The hashtag #DjokovicOut trended on Twitter on Wednesday. Commentators pointed out that spectators at the Australian Open must be vaccinated.Stephen Parnis, a former vice president of the Australian Medical Association, tweeted: “I don’t care how good a tennis player he is. If he’s refusing to get vaccinated, he shouldn’t be allowed in. If this exemption is true, it sends an appalling message to millions seeking to reduce #COVID19Aus risk to themselves & others. #Vaccination shows respect, Novak.”Another Twitter user called it “a slap in the face of millions of Australians.”Jamie Murray of Britain said on Tuesday after his ATP Cup doubles match: “I think if it was me that wasn’t vaccinated, I wouldn’t be getting an exemption. But well done to him for getting clear to come to Australia and compete.”Djokovic has long held nontraditional views of science and medicine — he once asserted that prayer and belief could purify toxic water — and he has had a complicated relationship with the pandemic. He has also said that vaccination is a private and personal decision that should not be mandated. When the Australian Open announced that vaccines would be required to gain entry into the country, Djokovic’s father referred to the mandate as “blackmail.”Jacinta Allan, acting premier of Victoria state, where the Australian Open will be held, called on Djokovic to explain his reasons for attending the tournament.The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 6The global surge. More

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      Novak Djokovic Is Refused Entry Into Australia Over Vaccine Exemption

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      The No. 1 men’s tennis player was told to leave the country following a 12-hour standoff with government officials at a Melbourne airport, ending his chance to defend his Australian Open title.Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player, traveled all day Wednesday from Dubai to Australia, a journey that was supposed to begin his defense of the Australian Open singles championship.On Thursday, he was told he would need to leave the country, following a 12-hour standoff with government officials at a Melbourne airport, where he was held in a room overnight over questions about the evidence supporting a medical exemption from a coronavirus vaccine. The exemption was supposed to allow Djokovic, a 20-time Grand Slam tournament champion and one of the biggest stars in sports, to compete in the Australian Open even though he has not been vaccinated.It was not immediately clear whether Djokovic would appeal the ruling in Australia’s courts. A spokesman for the tennis star did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The chain of events represented a startling turnabout for Djokovic, who in a little more than 24 hours went from receiving special, last-minute permission to enter Australia, to boarding an intercontinental flight, to essentially being told by the prime minister of Australia that he was not welcome in the country.At one point President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia even got involved, speaking with Djokovic and criticizing the Australian government for its treatment of his country’s biggest sports star.The pandemic has wreaked all manner of havoc with sports during the past two years. The Tokyo Summer Olympics were postponed for a year. Major events took place in empty stadiums. Star players have been sent into isolation just ahead of their competitions after testing positive for the virus.The situation involving Djokovic, one of the most polarizing figures in tennis, was a match for any of them. It turned on a confrontation between a sports superstar and the most powerful leader in one of the world’s most prosperous countries, where government officials, citizens, the media and even some fellow players, criticized the exemption, seemingly prompting the sudden shift.The decision promises to become another flashpoint in the debate about vaccines and how the pandemic should be managed now, especially in Australia, where egalitarianism is considered a sacred principle — and where “the tennis,” as the Open is called, is also beloved by what often seems like an entire nation of sports fanatics.In a statement Thursday, the Australian Border Force pledged to “continue to ensure that those who arrive at our border comply with our laws and entry requirements. The ABF can confirm that Mr. Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently canceled.”For Djokovic, it was the latest and arguably the most wrenching controversy in a career that has been filled with them, nearly all which have been brought on by the behavior of a champion who can be as willful and unbending off the court as he is on it.Djokovic has never been shy about expressing his nontraditional views of science and medicine (he once voiced support for the idea that prayer and belief could purify toxic water), and he has stated on multiple occasions his opposition to vaccine mandates, saying vaccination is a private and personal decision that should not be mandated. However, he had not revealed until this week whether he had been vaccinated.On Tuesday, he announced on Twitter that he had received a medical exemption from the requirement that all people entering Australia be vaccinated or quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. He later boarded a plane bound for Australia from Dubai.In a statement later that day, Craig Tiley, the chief executive of Tennis Australia, explained that players seeking an exemption had to pass muster with two panels of medical experts. The process included the redaction of personal information to ensure privacy.“Fair and independent protocols were established for assessing medical exemption applications that will enable us to ensure Australian Open 2022 is safe and enjoyable for everyone,” Tiley said. “Central to this process was that the decisions were made by independent medical experts and that every applicant was given due consideration.”Tiley said Wednesday in a television interview that 26 players had applied for an exemption and “a handful” had been granted. According to Tiley, 99 percent of the more than 3,000 people coming to Australia for the tournament were vaccinated. The handful who were granted an exemption either had a medical condition or had Covid-19 during the past six months.Djokovic landed at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday. By then, he had become the central figure in a firestorm over how he had received permission to enter Australia, which is experiencing a startling rise in coronavirus cases.People wait in line at a walk-in Covid-19 testing site in Melbourne.Joel Carrett/EPA, via ShutterstockThe country has waged one of the most successful battles against Covid-19, but it has come at a steep price. Strict lockdowns have lasted for months. International borders were largely closed until recently. Inbound travelers had to adhere to an expensive, two-week quarantine upon arrival. For long periods, even domestic travel between states was prohibited. The country has experienced about 2,200 deaths, but since opening its borders late last year it is now dealing with more than 30,000 cases a day.As Djokovic flew to Melbourne, Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, invoked the government’s authority to deny entry to Djokovic.“Any individual seeking to enter Australia must comply with our border requirements,” Morrison said.The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 6The global surge. More

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      Skepticism Greets Novak Djokovic’s Vaccine Exemption

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      The world No. 1 received an exemption to a rule that players be vaccinated to play in the Australian Open. Government officials said they had the power to overturn it.Was there ever a doubt that Novak Djokovic, jab or no jab, would end up in Melbourne this month to defend his Australian Open title?Not seemingly among his competitors. Many of them figured as soon as the tournament announced late last year that players could apply for a medical exemption from the Covid-19 inoculation requirement that officials would find a way for Djokovic, the vaccine-averse, 20-time Grand Slam tournament champion, to compete for a record 10th title in Australia.And when that exemption came through on Tuesday, and Djokovic, a Serb ranked No. 1, posted a picture of himself on Twitter announcing his imminent departure for Australia, reaction among the pro tennis elite ranged from skeptical to inspired.Happy New Year! Wishing you all health, love & joy in every moment & may you feel love & respect towards all beings on this wonderful planet.I’ve spent fantastic quality time with loved ones over break & today I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission. Let’s go 2022! pic.twitter.com/e688iSO2d4— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) January 4, 2022
      There was this exchange from Alex de Minaur and James Duckworth, both of Australia, after they lost their singles matches in the ATP Cup, a team tournament in Sydney.“If he’s fit the criteria, then, yeah, he should be able to come,” Duckworth said.“That’s very politically correct of you,” de Minaur said with a laugh. “As James has very wisely put out there, I think he’s said all the right things there. Look, I just think it’s just very interesting, that’s all I’m going to say.”By Wednesday, Australian politicians were weighing in. The minister for home affairs, Karen Andrews, released a statement that suggested the government could revoke Djokovic’s exemption, and the country’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, said health officials expected to see evidence that Djokovic merited his exemption, and threatened to put the tennis star “on the next plane home” if he did not meet the strict requirements for one.“We await his presentation and what evidence he provides us to support that,” Morrison said. “If that evidence is insufficient, then he won’t be treated any different to anyone else and he’ll be on the next plane home. There should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic at all.”Djokovic, who is tied with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for the most Grand Slam men’s singles titles, has long held some nontraditional views of science and medicine (he once asserted that prayer and belief could purify toxic water) and has had a complicated relationship with the pandemic.In June 2020, when sports were still largely shut down, and long before experts deemed it safe for people to gather and for large events to take place, Djokovic organized a series of exhibition matches in Serbia and Croatia and invited several of the world’s top players to participate. They obliged, and several of them became infected with the coronavirus, including Djokovic.Eventually, vaccines became available and a debate ensued about requiring tennis players to get inoculated, to protect themselves, tennis fans and tournament organizers, since the tours are an 11-month journey around the world. Djokovic was adamantly against this. He has long said vaccination is a private and personal decision that should not be mandated.This placed him at odds with his chief rivals, Federer and Nadal, who are vaccinated. Just last month, Nadal said he did not have a position on a mandate but deferred to the experts who said vaccines were the best way to protect everyone.“I don’t pretend to know more than what the authorized people say,” Nadal said last month during his preparation for the Australian Open in the United Arab Emirates. He tested positive for the coronavirus upon his return to Spain. “If the people who really know about it say that we need to be vaccinated, who I am to create a different opinion?”Throughout last year, the WTA, the professional women’s tour, and the ATP, the men’s circuit, did not require a vaccination, though players often have had to adhere to staying within a strict bubblelike environment as they hopscotched the world.But then the Australian Open announced a vaccine would be required to gain entry into the country. Djokovic’s father referred to the mandate as “blackmail.” A confrontation between tournament organizers and Novak Djokovic appeared inevitable, producing mixed emotions at the top of the game.The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 6The global surge. More