Well, it’s finally happening. The Biden Administration is making plans to lift the Covid-19 vaccine mandate travel ban that had been in place since late 2021, as part of the final stages of phasing out of the COVID emergency in the United States, according to a report from the online media publication OutKick late Monday. The story was then corroborated by BBC and the Daily Wire, the latter of the two has been heavily critical of the Covid-19 response in the United States during both the Trump and Biden Administrations. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t and shouldn’t be earth-shattering news given that the rest of the world has seemingly moved on from the Covid-19 Pandemic and President Biden himself declaring the pandemic over, but he unnecessarily kept this ridiculous mandate in place, placing undue burden on those seeking to travel into the U.S. but were kept out over their unvaccinated status. In fact, most Americans probably wouldn’t have known or cared that such a mandate even existed if not for Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic who was kept out of the Australian Open and the U.S. Open in 2022 over his decision to not receive the Covid vaccine. Australia abandoned its vaccine mandate requirement in December 2022, allowing Djokovic to return to a country he was deported from 11 months prior. He eventually captured the 2023 Australian Open singles title back in January. The question then became will Djokovic get to play in the United States. We now have that answer and it is a refreshing moment.
Novak Djokovic’s war against authoritarian measures such as vaccine mandates actually dates back to the summer of 2020 when several countries across the globe had already forced draconian lockdowns on civilians as the Covid-19 Pandemic spread. With the development of a Covid-19 vaccine in the works, various countries were discussing whether to implement vaccine mandates as a condition for reopening their economy. Even sports leagues were having this discussion. Djokovic, who had already been a vocal opponent of government lockdowns, social distancing requirements, and other measures, wrote a letter to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) saying that he will not participate in any tennis competitions if they enacted a vaccine mandate for its players. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) was also considering similar vaccine requirements. The ATP, worried about potential financial repercussions that would inevitably occur without the number one player on tour, ultimately acquiesced to Djokovic’s declaration and decided not to implement a vaccine mandate for its players. The WTA followed the ATP’s footsteps and decided that they would also not require players to be vaccinated as a condition to return to play. This of course did not act as a deterrent for political leaders who decided to eventually press on with vaccine mandates.
Vaccine distribution in the United States began in December 2020 during the transition period of outgoing President Donald Trump and President-Elect Joe Biden, who had made increased Covid-19 restrictions a central part of his ultimately successful presidential campaign. After his swearing-in ceremony on January 20, 2021, President Biden chose to retain former National Institute of Health Doctor Anthony Fauci as his top White House Covid-19 Advisor. In the months that followed, President Biden began holding the country hostage by creating government policies that forced businesses and corporations to require employers and employees to get vaccinated. Though many of those businesses rejected that executive order and the United State Supreme Court eventually ruled that Biden’s vaccine mandate was illegal. Yet that didn’t stop the Biden Administration from eventually signing an executive order to require foreign travelers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as a condition of entry into the country. The vaccine had been widely available worldwide by the end of 2021, which allowed Biden to implement this measure. This decision has been an extremely controversial policy that has drawn the ire of American conservative politicians and news pundits, especially those working for the Daily Wire. It also became a campaign issue in the 2022 United States midterm elections and contributed to the Democrats losing control of the House of Representatives.
Since taking over the House of Representatives in January, House Republicans led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy revamped their opposition to Biden Administration policies and have put tremendous pressure on the president to put an end to all remaining Covid-19 restrictions. Slowly, but surely, the remaining restrictions are being lifted. This includes the vaccine travel mandate. In addition to the pressure placed on the president by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, another contributing factor to the Biden Administration’s policy reversal is the retirement of Doctor Fauci who went on a two-year farewell tour before eventually departing the White House in January, days before Republicans officially took over control of the House of Representatives. The United States is one of the last countries to officially move on from Covid emergency policies. Facui, who is now participating in a never-ending media tour, still has not accepted blame for his disastrous policy recommendations in relation to the Covid-19 emergency response.
With the expiration of the Covid vaccine travel mandate in the United States looming, we will finally get to see the return of the number 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic. Djokovic, who has already missed the tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami this year, has not played in the U.S. since the 2021 U.S. Open where he lost to Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev in the Final, which ended his quest for a Calendar Grand Slam that year. Djokovic has not won the U.S. Open since 2018. He holds the record for most weeks spent as World Number 1 at 385 weeks. Djokovic has won 22 major singles titles.
The Covid-19 vaccine travel mandate ends May 11th. This means that Djokovic can still play in other American tournaments such as the Western and Southern Open in the weeks leading up to the U.S. Open in late August.
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