What Happens to Djokovic Going Forward?

[jimlosaltos]

Update on the soap opera that is L'Affaire Djokovic.

Today, Feb 2 via ESPN:

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/33201406/novak-djokovic-positive-covid-19-test-valid-serbian-prosecutors-say

"The prosecution office said in a statement that it had received a request for criminal proceedings against unnamed individuals who allegedly forged two PCR certificates, which were later used by Djokovic to apply for a medical exemption from vaccination when entering Australia.

"The prosecution acted according to the regulations, checks were performed, and it was determined that Novak Djokovic was tested several times and that the certificates on the test results from December 16, 2021 and December 22, 2021 are valid," the statement said.

Foreign media, including Der Spiegel and the BBC, have reported discrepanciesin the serial numbers of the tests Serbian authorities administered to the top-ranked Djokovic ahead of his trip to Australia, suggesting possible irregularities in the way they were issued.

[jimlosaltos]

Per Spain's Marca, Djokovic likely to get vaccinated.

https://www.marca.com/en/tennis/2022/02/02/61fa8932e2704e492e8b45bd.html

"Novak Djokovic has chosen to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to his biographer Daniel Muksch.

"From what I have heard from those around him, I think he is getting vaccinated," Muksch told Heute. "Perhaps the Australian final has contributed [to that decision].

"It may be that Nadal's 21 Grand Slams is driving him to do so."

[stotty]

Per Spain's Marca, Djokovic likely to get vaccinated.

https://www.marca.com/en/tennis/2022/02/02/61fa8932e2704e492e8b45bd.html

"Novak Djokovic has chosen to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to his biographer Daniel Muksch.

"From what I have heard from those around him, I think he is getting vaccinated," Muksch told Heute. "Perhaps the Australian final has contributed [to that decision].

"It may be that Nadal's 21 Grand Slams is driving him to do so."

Makes sense he is considering sacrificing his principles. He's already chucked the AO in Rafa's lap. I still think he will win the GOAT race but he sure as hell likes to make life difficult for himself. All his own doing mind.

Here is an interesting take on the Big 3 and the impact their elevated status has had on the game: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...-ruined-tennis

[stotty]

From the long awaited horse's mouth...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...id-vaccination

The BBC interview with Novak: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60354068

[jimlosaltos]

From the long awaited horse's mouth...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...id-vaccination

The BBC interview with Novak: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60354068

BBC: Novak Djokovic has said he would rather miss out on future tennis trophies than be forced to get a #COVID vaccine. He said missing competitions, such as the French Open, over his jab status was "the price that I'm willing to pay"

Djokovic said he had "always been a great student of wellness, wellbeing, health, nutrition," and his decision had been partly influenced by the positive impact factors such as changing his diet and his sleeping patterns had had on his abilities as an athlete.

He said he was "keeping [his] mind open" about the possibility of being vaccinated in the future, "because we are all trying to find collectively, a best possible solution to end Covid".

"Some had suggested it was convenient that Djokovic's positive Covid case in mid-December had occurred just in time for him to be granted a medical exemption to attend the tournament.

Asked if he was aware of any attempt to tamper with either of the tests he had done for Covid - earlier this month, BBC research cast doubt on the timing of a positive test - he flatly said no.


BBC: Analysis by Fergus Walsh, Medical Editor

"What more does he want to know?"

"He says he doesn't have enough information abt "the vaccine" as if there was just 1 Covid jab. There are many. As an elite athlete, he is at low risk from Covid. But not zero. He's already been infected twice."

"More than 10 billion doses of Covid vaccines have been administered and about six in 10 people globally have had at least one. So there is a wealth of information. Like all medicines, Covid vaccines have potential side effects, but their safety profile is excellent. They have saved countless lives, prevented serious illness, and may also be protective against long Covid.

[jimlosaltos]

While Djokovic's stance might seem extreme and likely to cost him more shots at a major, the second part isn't clear to me, anyway.

Here is my amateur guess. Please correct:

* Roland Garros - maybe an exception but pending election puts everything on the table
* Wimbledon - if it was played today, Djokovic could get in with only testing (IF I am reading the UK's new rules of 5 days ago correctly) before & after flight.
* US Open - Requires vaccinate and only exception is a vague national interest one, which might have worked with prior admin, unlikely now.

We don't know what immigration/travel rules will be in place by the time any of the majors are held. France is having an election, which could change everything (although Macron is favored).

For all I know, Djokovic might have a harder time getting into Australia for the next AO than any of those events -- given how his double-visa-decline qualifies him for a 3 year ban. Presumably, that is "negotiable" with the immigration department, but if the same officials are there his family has insulted them repeatedly, which is an interesting negotiation tactic

The short-term issue is missing both Indian Wells and Miami could cause him to lose his number one ranking. As best I can tell, he can't currently travel to the US. I don't see Australia-style loopholes, but I'm no expert.

US Rules

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...e%20vaccinated.

Updated Jan. 27, 2022
What You Need to Know

• You must be fully vaccinated with the primary series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to travel to the United States by plane if you are a non-U.S. citizen, non-U.S. immigrant (not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or traveling to the United States on an immigrant visa). Only limited exceptions apply. One is "Persons whose entry would be in the national interest", which probably would have worked under the prior administration.

The Exemptions;
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...ccination.html

[jimlosaltos]

I doubt Novak will ever get vaccinated.

You're looking like someone who can see the future, John.

Should have asked you who you had in the Super Bowl <g>.

[jimlosaltos]

Peter Bodo, the eminence grise of tennis writers since Bud Collins left us, hadn't written anywhere in a while that I've seen. But he dusted off his Remington Rand to rip Novak a new one on Tennis.com

https://www.tennis.com/news/articles...d-slams-w?s=03

Bodo; "Gee, thanks for respecting the great effort on behalf of the planet, but now how about doing your part?

"Djokovic agrees that vaccination is the key to ending the pandemic (according to the BBC, some 4.88 billion people—about 60 percent of the world population—now have truly negligible risk due to vaccines), he isn’t certain it’s the right thing for him because. . . his body is his temple. What are all those other billions of bodies, outhouses?"

Meanwhile, Ryanair (of all sources) had a this. succinct takedown of Novak's insistence that he's not an anti-vaxxer:

filedata/fetch?id=96691&d=1645032771&type=thumb
#

[jimlosaltos]

Great insights into Djokovic's beliefs and motivations, by Matthew Syed at The Telegraph

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/332bf90a-8e85-11ec-87eb-ee84fabc72c9?shareToken=fc9cc01361fd052297ab5570088cae51

Metered paywall, I believe.

Excerpt:

"Indeed, this may have been the nub of his falling-out with Andre Agassi, who coached Djokovic in 2018. The American saw MRI scans of Djokovic’s injured wrist and realised that he would need surgery. Djokovic, though, rejected Agassi’s advice, preferring months of natural remedies while trusting in the body’s capacity for self-healing. Only when it became clear that herbal tea wasn’t going to cut it did Djokovic reluctantly agree to an operation, crying for three days afterwards. Agassi later cited this as a key reason for their split.

"And while it may sound paradoxical, I would suggest that Djokovic’s new-age fundamentalism has had a positive impact on his tennis.

~~~~~~~~

It's one thing to believe you can cleanse impure water by manipulating the molecules with your mind, or that 5G might have caused covid, but quite another to discourage the use of medicine when the world is facing a criss that has killed perhaps 8 Million people so far

[stotty]

More Novak bashing. This time from British Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60391876

[stotty]

People at the tennis club where I work think Novak may have a point. In a club of 700 members, three women , all in their mid-forties, were all admitted to hospital with myocarditis after the Pfizer vaccine - each woman had their myocarditis was attributed to the Pfizer vaccine. The former club captain had a heart attack on court and died but this was totally unrelated to the vaccine. But the three women defied the statistics that only one person in many thousands suffer myocarditis after the vaccine.

But it's strange. I have had nothing but the Pfizer vaccine and suffered no side effects whatsoever. I went out and coached an 8 hour day the day after and didn't suffer any symptoms or fatigue. Hard to understand why one person gets away with it and another one doesn't.

A lot of people want AstraZeneca because it uses older, more tried and trusted vaccine technology.

[jimlosaltos]

People at the tennis club where I work think Novak may have a point. In a club of 700 members, three women , all in their mid-forties, were all admitted to hospital with myocarditis after the Pfizer vaccine - each woman had their myocarditis was attributed to the Pfizer vaccine. The former club captain had a heart attack on court and died but this was totally unrelated to the vaccine. But the three women defied the statistics that only one person in many thousands suffer myocarditis after the vaccine.

But it's strange. I have had nothing but the Pfizer vaccine and suffered no side effects whatsoever. I went out and coached an 8 hour day the day after and didn't suffer any symptoms or fatigue. Hard to understand why one person gets away with it and another one doesn't.

A lot of people want AstraZeneca because it uses older, more tried and trusted vaccine technology.

Somewhat the same for me. I had the equivalent of a mild, 24 hour flu after the second of three Pfizer shots. Significant other had a few aches. Nothing more.

But you make a good point. There are numerous vaccines available and widely tested using more than one approach. Perhaps a dozen technologies by now.

Most medical people I knew were betting ahead of their release that the Oxford vaccine would be the leader {Astra_Zeneca distributes that} That category uses a different, non-replicating virus portion.

What most people regard as a "traditional vaccine" uses an inactivated virus that causes the disease. But in the case of covid, I believe that approach is only used outside of Western countries: China, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan.

One of most interesting comes our of Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. Licensing it worldwide, not for profit, cheaper to manufacture.

https://www.texaschildrens.org/texas-children%E2%80%99s-hospital-and-baylor-college-medicine-covid-19-vaccine-technology-secures-emergency

Ah, good, old Wikipedia has a list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine#Vaccine_types

But, I have to stop. I said I wouldn't post here about covid itself -- and only make exceptions for the tennis side of its impact, like Djoko's availability and court case.

If I get started .......

[stotty]

Somewhat the same for me. I had the equivalent of a mild, 24 hour flu after the second of three Pfizer shots. Significant other had a few aches. Nothing more.

But you make a good point. There are numerous vaccines available and widely tested using more than one approach. Perhaps a dozen technologies by now.

Most medical people I knew were betting ahead of their release that the Oxford vaccine would be the leader {Astra_Zeneca distributes that} That category uses a different, non-replicating virus portion.

What most people regard as a "traditional vaccine" uses an inactivated virus that causes the disease. But in the case of covid, I believe that approach is only used outside of Western countries: China, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan.

One of most interesting comes our of Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. Licensing it worldwide, not for profit, cheaper to manufacture.
https://www.texaschildrens.org/texas...ures-emergency

Ah, good, old Wikipedia has a list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-...#Vaccine_types

But, I have to stop. I said I wouldn't post here about covid itself -- and only make exceptions for the tennis side of its impact, like Djoko's availability and court case.

If I get started .......

Well, Wimbledon has as good as said Novak will be able to enter. The trouble is what kind of build up will Novak be able to mount leading up to it SW19 if he is only allowed to play scant few tournaments.

I have a feeling the US will take a similar approach to the UK and throw caution to the wind at some point soon. Economy first...public health always half a step behind. That being the case then I assume Novak might be able to play tournaments there.

[arturohernandez]

Well, Wimbledon has as good as said Novak will be able to enter. The trouble is what kind of build up will Novak be able to mount leading up to it SW19 if he is only allowed to play scant few tournaments.

I have a feeling the US will take a similar approach to the UK and throw caution to the wind at some point soon. Economy first...public health always half a step behind. That being the case then I assume Novak might be able to play tournaments there.

I have a feeling that we are in our last real wave for anyone vaccinated. If everyone around Novak is vaccinated and he is not, then it will be his risk.

My daughter had a class mate test positive in HS. It turns out his parents only allowed him to get one vaccine (I know, I am just the messenger here). Everyone vaccinated including her tested negative even after he spent three days at school (and in one of her classes) with symptoms.

Once we are past this wave, I think it is much less risky to throw caution to the wind. But I am not an epidemiologist. Just reading the virus leaves to misuse a metaphor.

So, Novak, can come. As long as he is interacting with vaccinated folks he is okay. The only problem is if he picks up COVID from someone else and then regrets it for real. He is putting himself at extreme risk out of his own belief and conviction.

Everything to lose and nothing to gain. He believes something and makes it happen. Maybe he thinks he can just will himself to health. I hope he does not regret it.

[jimlosaltos]

I have a feeling that we are in our last real wave for anyone vaccinated. If everyone around Novak is vaccinated and he is not, then it will be his risk.

My daughter had a class mate test positive in HS. It turns out his parents only allowed him to get one vaccine (I know, I am just the messenger here). Everyone vaccinated including her tested negative even after he spent three days at school (and in one of her classes) with symptoms.

Once we are past this wave, I think it is much less risky to throw caution to the wind. But I am not an epidemiologist. Just reading the virus leaves to misuse a metaphor.

So, Novak, can come. As long as he is interacting with vaccinated folks he is okay. The only problem is if he picks up COVID from someone else and then regrets it for real. He is putting himself at extreme risk out of his own belief and conviction.

Everything to lose and nothing to gain. He believes something and makes it happen. Maybe he thinks he can just will himself to health. I hope he does not regret it.

I'm no epidemiologist either. Novak is at low risk, but it wouldn't take a major illness to make a difference at a major. Dimitrov, a couple of other players have had a hard time recovering. There's a much bigger risk that he will infect someone else that is much more vulnerable, something he appears to not care about in the least.

As for the disease ebbing, merely from my reading and discussing with med professionals, probably, but mutations are random. Covid probably becomes another flu or even a cold equivalent, but there's no guarantee a mutation won't be worse. Viruses are lousy Xerox machines, creating bad copies incessantly. Which ones survive, and which ones are deadly is random, every mutation a roll of the dice.

As Bill Gates warned Trump and others in 2018, one of the biggest threats mankind faces is a pandemic. Whether it happens this year or in 20 is unknown. Still true.