Novak Djokovic recently talked about his vaccination stance, as he clarified that he is not against vaccinations.
The Serbian had a pretty unpopular view about vaccines. The thing about anything pandemic-related and vaccine-related is that it was highly polarized. You were either A or B, with us or against us.
There was very little dialogue going on because people just picked a side and stuck with it. Being on neither wasn't very popular, and that's what Novak Djokovic did. Despite explaining multiple times that he's neither for the vaccine nor against it, Djokovic was painted with an anti-vax brush.
It's mostly because he exercised the freedom to choose, and didn't get vaccinated. That was highly unpopular among most people because most people took the vaccine and deemed it necessary to do so.
The decision had huge implications for his career. He couldn't enter the United States because of it, missing several big events there, including the US Open.
The choice not to be vaccinated also contributed to his deportation from Australia, which further impacted his tennis legacy. His societal standing also took a hit as several people questioned his stance and decision.
Most called him anti-vax, which is, at best, a reach. He never promoted that, nor is he against vaccines in general. He simply opted not to take this one and exercised his freedom of choice to do so.
That's what he believes: the freedom to choose. The problem most people had was that he made the wrong choice, in their opinion. Had he exercised his freedom to choose and gotten vaccinated, most people wouldn't have cared, but that was his choice.
Vaccine mandates were soon dropped, and Djokovic returned to play, but not everywhere. The United States was the final country to do so earlier this year, and now he's free to play everywhere.
Djokovic spoke many times about his choice, admitting he was comfortable with it despite the implications. He stood his ground, which was important to him. And he's not anti-vax, as he repeated recently in an interview for CBS' 60 Minutes.
People tried to declare me as an anti-vax. I'm not anti-vax. Nor am I pro-vax. I'm pro freedom to choose.
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