Novak Djokovic’s travel saga shows how absurd US COVID rules have been for three years
Zachary Faria
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The travel saga of Novak Djokovic still has not ended, but it isn’t lockdown-happy Australia that is preventing him from traveling. It’s President Joe Biden.
Djokovic was forced to miss the 2022 Australian Open after the Australian federal government refused to recognize his COVID-19 vaccine exemption. At the time, some journalists claimed that this would forever stain his legacy. One year later, Djokovic is fresh off of winning the 2023 Australian Open, giving him his tenth Australian Open title and his fourth victory there out of the last five.
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Australia deported Djokovic last year, but now it is the U.S. that is more obsessed over COVID vaccinations. Djokovic was forced to miss the 2022 U.S. Open over his vaccination status, as well as events at Indian Wells and Miami. As of now, he will again be forced to miss the latter two events, as the U.S. is keeping its vaccine travel requirements in place until at least April 10.
Yes, Australia, the country where some residents were prevented from going anywhere three miles away from their home and where only one person from each household was allowed to leave once per day, is now softer on international travel than the U.S. under Biden.
Remember when Biden declared that the pandemic was over fourth months ago? Those were good times.
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Biden is again declaring that the pandemic is over — or at least that it is about to be. Biden is planning on ending the national emergency orders for COVID in May, only about a year or two later than everyone else who recognized that the pandemic was already over. It was a long, incoherent process for Biden and, in the process, the absurd restrictions like those imposed on Djokovic and on normal people trying to travel to the U.S. ended up being stricter than the most extreme COVID regimes in the free world.
The irrational, erratic COVID regime of the U.S. is nearly over, if Biden is to be believed. But that doesn’t erase the damage done by years of needless restrictions. Djokovic’s travel saga, which still has not ended, simply highlights the absurdity of Biden’s arbitrary timetable and the arbitrary restrictions in place for three years and counting.