Australian Open – Covid-19: Novak Djokovic, the end of the suspense, not the end of the questions

In terms of play, the presence of Djokovic is excellent news. He has been the best player on the planet, the undisputed leader of world tennis and the central figure of the Australian Open for more than a decade. It is the end of a soap opera between questions, rumors and speculations. But Tuesday’s announcement raises several questions.

What are the criteria for playing in Melbourne?

There are not thirty-six solutions. There are only two: to present a complete vaccination schedule or to benefit from a medical exemption which allows to play without being vaccinated. The organizers of the Australian Open are only following the decisions taken by the local authorities. And yet, being vaccinated is not always enough. Australia, for example, does not recognize the validity of the Russian Sputnik vaccine. Russian player Natalia Vikhlyantseva, vaccinated with Sputnik, has thus given up the trip to the Antipodes. You must have received two doses of a reference vaccine (Moderna, Pfizer) or one dose of Johnson & Johnson.

Last November, the state of Victoria, where the city of Melbourne is located, ruled out granting a special exemption to unvaccinated players so that they can participate in the tournament. “Medical exemptions will only be medical exemptions and not a way around these rules for privileged tennis players“, had warned James Merlino, Deputy Prime Minister of the State, to extinguish the rumor indicating a possible exemption for Novak Djokovic. This had scolded part of the local population, subject to a drastic health protocol since the start of the pandemic.

Who decides to grant medical exemptions?

It was at the beginning of December that the Australian Open communicated to the players the principle of medical exemptions for the 2022 edition. The team, which had been able to access this document, the process should follow the guidelines of ATAGI (Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization), Australia’s technical advisory committee on immunization.

Each player wishing to benefit from a medical exemption had to make the request at the latest on Friday, December 10, that is to say a little more than five weeks before the start of the tournament. The request was then to be studied by a group of independent medical experts, which decides on the legitimacy of the request.

By confirming Tuesday that Novak Djokovic did indeed benefit from an exemption, the Australian Open wished to recall that his request had been the subject “a rigorous study“. In its press release, the tournament even specifies that”two different panels of medical experts“looked at the case of the world number one. Craig Tiley talks about a protocol”fair and independent“. It is therefore not the organization of the tournament that decides whether or not alone in its corner to grant this exemption.

The government of the State of Victoria itself wished to recall the different stages of this process. They are two in number. The initial request is first made to the Australian Tennis Federation which, after study, forwards it or not to the IMERP (Independent Medical Exemption Review Panel), made up of “highly qualified professional physicians in cardiology, immunology and sports medicine“.

The government specifies in this same press release an important information: the request is anonymous. When studying a specific case of exemption, the IMERP a priori ignores the identity of the requester. The doctors who granted a medical exemption to Novak Djokovic therefore did not know that the request came from him.

What are these medical exemptions?

They are few in number. The first concerns those who have been affected by Covid-19. Those who can prove that they were infected after July 31, 2021 are not required to present a full vaccination schedule. It is in fact possible then to postpone the vaccination for six months, that is to say no earlier than January 31. The 2022 Australian Open will end on the 30th with the men’s singles final.

This is followed by purely medical exemptions in the event of a contraindication or an adverse reaction following the allocation of a first dose of a vaccine approved by the Australian authorities. It may be a heart disease that started in the last three months, such as myocarditis or pericarditis, but also acute heart failure or severe rheumatoid arthritis. The applicant for an exemption must then provide proof, via a certificate, that the origin of these problems is indeed a consequence of the first dose of vaccination. Behavioral or mental disorders can also be taken into account.

On the other hand, family history, minor side effects and allergy to other types of vaccines are not considered in this process as sufficient to qualify for exemption. On this basis, which scenario allowed Novak Djokovic to obtain a medical exemption? Difficult to be categorical and it is unlikely that the player or the organizers will communicate on this point.

But it seems just as complicated to imagine that he suffered from serious heart or joint problems between his appearance at the Masters in mid-November and the start of 2022 when he is preparing to leave for Australia. According to the document mentioned above, the most likely therefore would be that he contracted the virus after July 31. But when ?

Do other players benefit from an exemption?

To date, Novak Djokovic is the first known case of a player receiving medical exemption to participate in the Australian Open. According to the latest communications from the ATP Tour dated December 24, 95% of the Top 100 members of the ATP ranking have a complete vaccination schedule. Regarding the WTA, the rate reached 60% in October, but it has probably increased since (it was at the same time 65% for men).

Djokovic’s case, on the men’s circuit, was therefore in the minority. True, he never publicly stated whether or not he was vaccinated. “It’s a private matter“, he always said. But he had taken a public position against vaccination in the spring of 2020:”Personally, I am not for vaccines. I would not like someone forcing me to get vaccinated to travelThe fact that he requested and received a medical exemption to come to Australia seems to confirm that he is not vaccinated or does not have a complete vaccination schedule.

In any case, requests for exemption are rare. But Craig Tiley, without revealing a name, said other players had been “exempted.”In some cases, their request was accepted, he confided on Sunday. But it’s up to them to say it publicly or not. “

Pierre-Hugues Herbert, ranked just outside the Top 10 and therefore not included in the statistics disclosed by ATP, is not vaccinated. The French player chose not to go to Australia and had a priori not made a request for exemption. One thing is certain now: Novak Djokovic will be in Melbourne.