Novak Djokovic should not be allowed to compete at this year’s US Open due to his Covid vaccination status, Express Sport readers have concluded. Djokovic faces a tough battle to gain entry into America, which has tight rules on vaccinations, to participate in the tournament later this month.
Entry into the US for foreign nationals is subject to proof of at least a double vaccination against the virus. Djokovic, a 21-times Grand Slam champion and the reigning Wimbledon victor, refuses to get the vaccine.
The 35-year-old’s vaccination status infamously saw him deported from Australia ahead of the Australian Open in January. Djokovic initially believed that he had been granted a medical exemption by tournament organisers, but that was overruled by the country’s government.
There have been calls for the World No 6 to be given an exemption ahead of the US Open, which starts on August 29. Fans, players and senior politicians have called on President Joe Biden to grant Djokovic special access in order to compete at the tournament.
However, Express Sport readers are among those who disagree with that view, and believe that Djokovic should be denied entry. In a poll of Express Sport readers, a whopping 60 per-cent said that the Serb should not be allowed to compete at the US Open as an unvaccinated player.
A total of 37.5 per-cent said that he should be allowed to compete, while 2.2 per-cent said they were unsure. The survey had 19,581 participants.
Republican Texas Representative Louie Gohmert has attempted to pile pressure on Biden after sending a letter of his own to the President. Gohmert told local media prior to his letter: “Novak Djokovic overcame war and threats of starvation to become one of the world’s top tennis players, if not the top player. Yet, now it appears he may not be able to overcome the Biden Administration’s cold, heartless, malevolent, scientifically oblivious mentality in order to compete in the 2022 US Open.
“The current vaccine mandate for foreign travellers to the United States is not only anti-science, it’s anti-American. At this point in time, it is ludicrous that anyone, anywhere, would currently be mandated to take this Emergency Use Authorised COVID vaccine from which the odds of personal harm increase as the manufacturer’s liability for harm or death are prevented.
“It is the very vaccine Dr. Deborah Birx so eloquently told us last week that she knew would not ‘protect against infection’ and was ‘overplayed’ by health officials.”
The average daily death rate from Covid in the seven days leading up to August 9 was 562.
