In 2022, Novak Djokovic was refused entry to Australia over his Covid-19 vaccine status. Djokovic, an outspoken vaccine sceptic, was held after arriving in Australia to play in the Australian Open. The all-time great's visa was revoked for failing to meet the country's tough pandemic restrictions, a development that reverberated globally and sparked an angry reaction from Serbia.
Novak Djokovic was a victim of a "political witch hunt" claimed Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic while talking about the incident as fans in Belgrade rallied in support of the embattled tennis star after Australian authorities cancelled his entry visa. "What is not fair-play is the political witch hunt (being conducted against Novak), by everybody including the Australian Prime Minister pretending that the rules apply to all," Vucic told the media.
On Wednesday, England cricket great brought up the subject yet again amid news of AstraZeneca initiating a global withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine, days after it was reported that the British pharmaceutical company admitted that the jab can cause rare side effects. The vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was produced by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield.
"It's time for every single person(who criticised) and the Australian government to issue an apology to
@DjokerNole now. I think that would be fitting as he went through HELL! It seems he was onto something…" Kevin Pietersen wrote on X.
Meanwhile, The vaccine maker has said the worldwide withdrawal was initiated because of commercial reasons due to a "surplus of available updated vaccines" for COVID-19, The Telegraph reported. The vaccine was superseded by updated vaccines that tackle new variants, AstraZeneca said.
The company voluntarily withdrew its "marketing authorisation" in the European Union, adding that the vaccine was no longer being produced and could no longer be used. Similar withdrawals will be made across other countries that have been using the vaccine.
The pharmaceutical giant is facing a 100 million pound lawsuit in UK over claims that the Covid jab caused deaths and injuries to several people. AstraZeneca admitted in one of the court documents in February that Covishield can "in very rare cases, cause TTS or Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome".