Don’t Let Bad Policy Stand Between Novak Djokovic and US Open

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U.S. travel restrictions requiring non-citizens to be “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19 to enter the country are keeping Novak Djokovic from competing in the 2022 US Open Grand Slam. It’s time to end the ineffective, discriminatory policies preventing him from competing. The Wimbledon champion, already banned from playing in the Australian Open due to his vaccination status, has asserted he is willing to sacrifice participation in tournaments to preserve his health and bodily autonomy. Coercion should not play a role in his personal health decisions.

Djokovic’s concerns are valid. The link between COVID vaccines and myocarditis is well documented. Athletes have been collapsing and suffering cardiac events at alarming rates. Moreover, he contracted COVID in December, which likely resulted in natural immunity. The Wimbledon champion is no more a public health threat than any vaccinated player. Other sports organizations, including the NCAA, now recognize immunity conferred by prior infection and have factored it into their policies.

Last October, President Biden issued Proclamation 10294 — “Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which states, “It is the policy of my Administration to implement science-based public health measures.”

These discriminatory policies are based on outdated data. Policies based on science must evolve with science. According to the proclamation, our current travel restrictions:

• Are intended “to prevent further introduction, transmission, and spread of COVID-19 into and throughout the United States, including from international air travelers.”
• Include “an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination.”
• Are based on a 2021 assertion from the CDC that “vaccinated individuals are 5 times less likely to be infected and 10 times less likely to experience hospitalization or death due to COVID-19 than unvaccinated individuals.”

This policy cannot achieve its stated goal based on an incorrect assertion from last year. The scientific community has since conceded that COVID vaccines do not stop infection or transmission and any protection they offer is limited and short-lived. Last November, a CDC-supported study concluded that “Clinicians and public health practitioners should consider vaccinated persons who become infected with SARS-CoV-2 to be no less infectious than unvaccinated persons.”

With increasing COVID hospitalizations among the vaccinated, we can no longer claim this is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

Furthermore, current restrictions allow for exceptions for “any noncitizen or group of noncitizens whose entry would be in the national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their designees.” Widespread mainstream media coverage, paired with a change.org petition with over 39,000 signatures, suggests that Djokovic’s plight has become a matter of national interest.

In short, Djokovic poses no public health risk — his participation is good for the game and he shouldn’t have to forfeit his principles to compete.

The US Open is willing to let Djokovic compete. Don’t let tyranny stop him.