Novak has made it a point that he does not want to get vaccinated and has the right of deciding on what goes inside his body and what does not. In such a scenario, he has to travel across countries where the COVID-19 restrictions remain in place and he is not allowed to enter. Earlier, ahead of the Australian Open, he was expecting a middle path, but there was a logjam and he had to return. Now when the US Open is just around the corner, there continue to be restrictions in place in the US, but right now, it seems that if Novak wants to participate in the upcoming US Open, he will have to receive the vaccine shot. But he has said—right after winning the Wimbledon—that he won’t, while it all depends on how strictly the US is going to impose the restrictions, which will determine whether or not Novak will participate in the US Open.
All these years have not been pleasant for the tennis star as he has not shown any willingness for taking the vaccine because he believes that the vaccines alter the DNA, which, he said, he will not allow happening with his body. At the same time, he has not been able to put across any evidence of such changes occurring in the body, and also no global health expert has reached out to him, in a bid to clear his confusion, if any. Because such people can send out an effective message, and if Novak believes that the vaccines alter DNA, then the same is going to have larger effects and many more takers; even as there is a full-fledged anti-vax movement going on in some parts of the world—for them Novak is a hero. There is a need to understand that Novak has got every right to decide for himself and if he is not ready to get vaccinated, that remains his choice. At the same time, he cannot be stopped from participating in the tournaments held across the world—because his participation there, too, is his right. There is a need for finding a middle path and providing the sportspersons the necessary exemption from the restrictions. Let them have it their way.
