A few months before the Australian Open, Australian politicians are still not on the same page about vaccinations. Immigration Secretary Alex Hawke said last week that vaccination is mandatory to enter the country, but that was later nuanced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“A special exception may be allowed for an economic reason,” Morrison said. “We want high profile events in this country, a lot of jobs depend on that. We want to show the world that Australia is open.”
That was good news for Novak Djokovic, among others, who is generally believed to be unvaccinated. The Serb, the number 1 in the world, can win the Australian Open for the 10th time and only become the record holder in grand slam titles.
But Daniel Andrews, the Premier of the state of Victoria, is vehemently opposed to admitting unvaccinated people. “My government will not make an exception for any unvaccinated player. I cannot require the public and tournament staff to get vaccinated if the players are not vaccinated,” Andrews said.
Novak Djokovic said last week that he may not play at the tournament as long as the rules are “as they are”. Now that the rules for unvaccinated players are unclear, Djokovic’s participation is at the very least uncertain.
