LETTER: Djokovic’s Lesson for the Caribbean

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Djokovic’s Lesson for the Caribbean

The debacle over the deportation of tennis player Novak Djokovic from Australia underlines the level of paranoia and lack of common sense that has permeated the approach of many governments throughout the world to the management and handling of the COVID crisis.

There is a powerful lesson for our governments in the region as well.

Scott Morrison’s administration was left with egg on its face after someone first granted Djokovic permission to enter, which was then rescinded at the airport and the world famous tennis star – a nine-time Australian Open champion – sent to a detention center. Only for the court to rule that the detention was not handled properly, throwing the ball back into the government’s court, which then forced the Immigration Minister to cancel his visa, resulting in another court challenge, this time resulting in the country’s Federal Court upholding the cancellation order (without publishing reasons) leading to one of the game’s most celebrated sons being kicked out of Australia ….and if they respect their own rules, he will now be automatically banned for three years, which means he will not be able to compete again until he’s 37.

Look, I hold no candle for Novak, I believe in vaccination and the fact that he had wrong information on his visa application just adds fuel to the fire, but this is not just about a visa, this is all about COVID and vaccination, and the hodge-podge of so-called protocols being created every day – not based on – but IN SPITE of the science!

That’s what created the gap that allowed Novak to enter Australia in the first place, and now France and Spain and Germany are scrambling to declare that no unvaxxed athletes can compete in their country or that athletes ‘must uphold the rules.’ Well, exactly where did the rules break down? And now Prime Minister Morrison is trying to do damage control by manufacturing a window to allow Novak to avoid the three-year ban. Is it a case of two wrongs now trying to make a right?

The bottom line is that if we were not paranoid with how we continue to deal with COVID, this global public spectacle would never have arisen. I mean, the reason given by Minister Alex Hawke that Djokovic’s presence was ‘a threat to public order’ because it would encourage anti-vaccination sentiment in the midst of the latest surge rings, nay, it bellows a bit hollow.

The threat to public order has come from the anti-vax critics and those who, after more than a year, have refused to take a vaccine that can save their lives. That has nothing to do with Novak Djokovic. So putting yourself in a position where you need to make such an embarrassing justification on one hand, just shows up the failure of the government to properly educate and drive home vaccination efforts among its population on the other.

Countries cannot have one foot in and one foot out. New developments with COVID are now causing friction with outdated protocols still in place. And for heaven’s sake, when will be mature enough to allow people their right to deal with the consequences of their own actions.

It’s been over a year now as I said, and those who don’t want the vaccine are not going to take it – bottom line! That is their choice and they have the right to so choose, so let’s just get on with our lives.

We need to call a spade a spade – the vast majority of vaccinated persons will not get badly ill if they get COVID, so they are protected, and if the others are comfortable playing Russian Roulette with their lives – so be it!

But my point is that countries world over, including here in the Caribbean, must review the protocols they have in place and determine whether they are indeed founded in reality or in paranoia.

Novak’s case could have been handled much better, had simple common sense prevailed. But the decisions governments are taking with respect to COVID management have nothing to do with common sense, but rather everything to do with political expediency. This has nothing to do with ‘the science’, but everything to do with popularity. It has nothing to do with truly keeping people safe, and everything to do with managing criticism now and in any upcoming election.

Yes, we faced an unprecedented crisis which required unprecedented actions. But do the systems we have in place now help, or are they just perpetuating the pandemic.

Sadly, I don’t expect many leaders or even health professionals to answer that question honestly.

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25 COMMENTS

  3. “The threat to public order has come from the anti-vax critics and those who, after more than a year, have refused to take a vaccine that can save their lives.” – Have you read this?: https://antiguanewsroom.com/ontario-fully-vaccinated-accounts-for-highest-hospitalizations-and-icu-patients/

    Australia is one big detention centre right now. Pray for them. Djokovic contracted COVID in December and was granted a medical exemption on that basis. It is well known that taking the jab within 6 months of recovering from COVID can produce a dangerous immune response. So tell me what did Australia expect him to do, get hospitalized and possibly dies so he could slap a ball around a tarmac? This would obviously be disastrous for someone whose body is his main source of income. Let’s not forget all the players, referees, newcasters and others dropping like flies on camera, some dropping dead. Multiple world class athletes have had their careers ended by taking these drugs. Myocarditis is no joke so please excuse the man if he thinks his health is worth more to him than a game of tennis.

  4. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know where to start on this ridiculously made up SUBJECTIVE piece of utter undulated nonsense.

    However, regarding Novak Djokovic’s treatment. It was utterly despicable for someone who has made the CHOICE to rely on his natural immunity, instead on being vaccinated by a drug that is currently on trial – AND DO NOT FORGET THAT AS A EXTREMELY FIT ATHLETE, HE’S WELL AWARE OF THE 100s (if not 1000s) OF SPORTSMEN THAT HAVE COLLAPSED AND DIED SINCE THE INTRODUCTIONS OF THESE TRIAL VACCINES.

    Furthermore, I note with interest, that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic allows his UNVACCINATED nationals to return back to their HOMELAND … unlike our own prime minister, who continues to shut out his Antiguan citizens.

    • Please present the evidence to support your claim that “100s (if not 1000s)” of sportsmen have collapsed and died from the vaccine. That is pure fiction. Stop spouting nonsense that has no evidence to support it

      • The evidence is well known … you are either too lazy to check, or you are vaccinated and won’t admit you’ve been DUPED (by the way, your name tag suits you).

        You’re ‘playing’ FOOL to try and catch the WISE … ALSO, STOP RELYING ON THE MSM FOR YOUR OWN INFO’, AND MAYBE, YOU’LL LOCATE THE INJURIES AND DEATHS OF THESE ATHLETES – DAMN LAZY!

        • … Here’s a taster for you ‘Nonsense’, as you are too reliant – or lazy -, on the Main Stream Media (MSM):

          Athletes Collapsing and Dying [400 IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS] …

          I located this deadly info’ in under a minute on YouTube.

          Again, some of you pro-vaxxers are just LANGUOROUS and TORPID.

          • For anyone else who’s going to watch the video, I should warn you … some of the scenes are very Distressing!

          • Just out of curiosity I looked at the You Tube clip you mentioned. I saw nothing in it to link the incidents to the vaccine. Did the producer of the You Tube video maybe provide you with copies of the death certificates to prove to you that it was the dreaded vaccine? Of course not. You are just taking his word for it. The man presenting the video is, by the way, a hypnotist by trade. Google it if you don’t believe me. Sounds like he’s got you truly hypnotised. LOL. Sad

          • Oh dear, another pro-vaxxer who doesn’t want to accept that the vaccines are causing serious problems to those who have taken it … STAY SAFE!

          • Let me be clear. I respect your personal choice not to take the vaccine, that is your right. Similarly you should respect those who have chosen to take the vaccine rather than persistently dismiss them as “sheep” or gullible or fools. Have some respect and responsibility. I don’t post comments telling people to get vaccinated and would not be posting at all if it weren’t for the fact that people like you continue to promote falsehoods and selective misinformation. Misinformation that flies in the face of the VAST majority of international respected medical opinion and hard factual data and statistics that demonstrate being vaccinated results in a significantly reduced risk of serious illness, hospitalisation and death. If you still choose not to be vaccinated then that’s up to you and good luck to you.

            You have made your decision but don’t spread misinformation and unqualified propaganda to try to influence others. Let them make their own minds up. You are not qualified to advise on medical matters and neither are most of the “sources” you quote or direct people to on You Tube. You have a personal agenda because you can’t travel to Antigua because of your vaccination status. That’s your problem, no-one else’s. Keep your vaccination views to yourself and let people make their own minds up.

            I’m sure you’ll feel obliged to respond in your usual manner to this but whatever!

          • ‘I’m done with it’, it has never been an agenda with me; I just want a balanced narrative where the other medical experts are allowed their voices to be heard. Ask yourself why they aren’t allowed to speak as freely as any government or pharmaceutical APPOINTEES?

            Furthermore, if you have taken the time to read any of my threads, I am not anti-vax, because I have always taken any medicines/injections to date … I just want a vaccine that isn’t still on trial AND ACTUALLY WORKS!

            My unvaccinated family & friends to-date are not sick with Covid-19 (despite the media lies to the contrary), however, those that I know who have had the vaccine have had coronavirus.

            I spoke with a FULLY VACCINATED Antiguan just recently … and guess what? THEY NOW HAVE COVID. GO FIGURE!

        • Here we go again Brixie with another one of your turd videos… show us one documented case of an athlete who has died from vaccination. And your made up videos and tweets don’t count. How many athletes have died suddenly, on an annual basis, before the pandemic worldwide? How does that compare to now? Can you break it down by sport? Amateur versus professional? Kids versus adults? What have been most common causes of sudden death in athletes before the pandemic? Are you now suggesting that ALL sudden deaths are now caused by vaccination?

          Did you know that FIFA documented 617 sudden deaths among soccer players world wide between 2014 and 2018? That’s long before the pandemic genius. And soccer players are at lower risk of traumatic sudden death compared with other sports such as baseball, hockey or skiing. Not my conclusion it’s documented in the research noted below. Sudden deaths are nothing new to sport. Prove that this is a new phenomenon liked to vaccinations.

          https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/56/2/80

          • ‘Say What?’, all your arguments are purely ANECDOTAL, and you are not arguing from REAL facts, but continue to use biased information from the sources that fund the FINANCIAL push for GLOBAL vaccination – I have pulled you up on this before, and you still continue to do so.

            That’s why many believe you are paid or affiliated to deflect from the TRUTH. DANGEROUS!!!

            Never forget what the world was promised at the beginning of this PANDEMIC:

            ‘3 weeks to flatten the curve’, and ‘one injection to/for freedom’. LIES!

            Now look where we are 2 years later. 3 jabs, possibly 4, and even more worryingly, it now looks LIKE the big pharmaceuticals and global governments are now looking to the future, and want to inject all of us with booster jabs, on a 3-6 month basis – compromising our already overworked IMMUNE SYSTEM.

            IF THEY TOLD US THEY WOULD DO THIS FROM THE OUTSET, THE WORLDWIDE TAKE-UP OF THESE TRIAL VACCINES WOULD HAVE BEEN QUERIED EARLIER, AND A LOT LESS.

    • CONGO PEPPER LANGUAGE

      ‘…Utter Undulated Nonsense?’

      Darn ‘…Strong Language.’

      Hotter than ‘Congo Pepper.’

  5. The court found that Djokovic had been treated badly and that he had complied with the Aussie’s rules. The Appeal Court did not dispute these FACTS. However the Appeal Court ruled that in law the Federal Aussie immigration minister has by right the higher to decide on immigration cases. The immigration minister then, for political reasons, decided to rescind Djokovic’s entry.

    Don’t let pro vax nonsense get in the way of the facts.

  6. Why is it that the PRO-VAX always MISTAKINGLY always think of themselves as VIRTUOUS, instead of COWARDLY? JUST ASKING FOR A FRIEND …

    I must be doing something right, THE PRO-VAX ‘ARMY’ are out in force on this ANR thread – I LOVE IT!!!

      • ANECDOTAL (definition):
        (of an account) not necessarily true or reliable, based on personal accounts rather than facts or research.
        “while there was much anecdotal evidence there was little hard fact”

        ANECDOTE (definition):
        an account regarded as unreliable or hearsay.
        “his wife’s death has long been the subject of rumor and anecdote”

        So let me get this straight; you say I’m coming at you with anecdotes?

        Today YOU posted the following ANECDOTES:

        “My unvaccinated family & friends to-date are not sick with Covid-19 (despite the media lies to the contrary), however, those that I know who have had the vaccine have had coronavirus.”

        “I spoke with a FULLY VACCINATED Antiguan just recently … and guess what? THEY NOW HAVE COVID. GO FIGURE!”

        So what’s the point of your meaningless anecdotes? Are you really trying to tell me that ALL the vaccinated people you know have covid? That is not believable Pinocchio. Have you commissioned your own survey of all unvaccinated people, other than your family, to understand how they are faring against the virus? You spoke with one fully vaccinated Antiguan that has covid. Did they die? If not the vaccine may have saved their life. That’s what the vaccine is intended to do. Have you talked to all the vaccinated Antiguans that don’t have covid? (there are tens of thousands). How are they all doing?

        I post a article from a reputable medical journal, the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the leading peer reviewed journal in sports medicine in Britain, and you have the balls to say my argument is anecdotal? ROTFLMAO! Within what kind of upside down ass backward menagerie do you live? You know, I once suggested that you are suffering from dementia. I apologize. I used the wrong term. You are demented (definition: driven to behave irrationally due to anger, distress, or excitement). Fits like a glove.

        Regarding to the legions of athletes you allege are dying from vaccines, you posted that, “The evidence is well known…” Then in your next breath you post the evidence (Athletes Collapsing and Dying [400 IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS]). That’s your evidence? ROTFLMAO again! No sources of data are noted, but the YouTuber did credit the music he used in the video, I guess that’s something…nice. It’s nothing more than 12 minutes and 59 seconds of anecdotes and hyperbole. Not one fact to link any death to a vaccine. This is your idea of research? This is your credible information? This is the type of source, along with a handful of disgruntled and/or discredited doctors and scientists that you want to balance against the overwhelming majority of the medical and scientific community? It can’t go so Jack. What your pushing is false equivalency not enlightenment.

        And who promised that it would take three weeks to flatten the curve? And who promised that only one injection would be required when all but one of the vaccines were designed as two dose regimens? More hyperbole by you!

        Your world revolves around the drama of conspiracy theories. And now you want to insert me into your fantasies as a paid affiliate of the conspiracy? I’m flattered that you’ve elevated me to such an important position. The sad reality is that it costs me every time I respond to one of your outrageous posts, either out of pocket because I’m not doing my real job, or in terms of precious time wasted that I could have spent on doing something more enjoyable. Unfortunately reading your posts is kind of like watching a train wreck, it’s kind of hard not to look.

        My friend, my motivation is consistent with the sentiments expressed by “I’m Done With It”. He or she is bang on and there are many that agree. In fact I’m willing to wager that the majority of Antiguans are in agreement. I’ve never once suggested that you or anyone else should be vaccinated (prove me wrong). I have consistently said that people should consult their doctor if they have questions about the virus and/or how to minimize the chance of contracting it (prove me wrong). They shouldn’t listen to me, you or Joe Rogan for that kind of advice. Do what you want with your own life, just don’t drag others along for the ride.

        • First it was take the injection to “flatten the curve” I remember. Up to last year Dementia Joe said, “You won’t catch COVID if you’re vaccinated”
          Then it was “Everybody knows you can still catch it if you’re vaccinated”. Next it was “Everybody knows you can still spread it if you’re vaccinated”
          I’m just waiting for “Everybody knows the injections are good for nothing!”
          and “Everybody knows there are other treatments that work”.

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