Novak Djokovic was granted vaccine exemption to compete in the Australian Open, as he had recently recovered from COVID-19, quoted documents published by Australia’s Federal Circuit.
The Serb Tennis Star who is confined at a hotel in Melbourne having his visa cancelled on arrival on Thursday, returned his first positive coronavirus test on Dec. 16, but 14 days later “had not had a fever or respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 72 hours,” the filing said. On completing his quarantine, Mr Djokovic had received, on 30 December 2021, a letter from the Chief Medical Officer of Tennis Australia recording that he had been provided with a ‘Medical exemption from COVID vaccination’ on the grounds that he had recently recovered from COVID,” the document further added.
The 34-year-old was denied immigration at the Melbourne airport on Wednesday after he failed to comply with the vaccination norms of the country, which mandate all non-citizens be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The ace shuttler was given medical exemption backed by the Victoria state government and Australian Open organizers based on information he supplied to two independent medical panels. However, the Australian Border Force invalidated the information under Australia’s BioSecurity Act ‘ as the previous infection was not considered a medical contradiction for COVID-19 vaccination in Australia.’
The Serbian native is preparing for his challenge in the Federal Circuit Court on Monday.