other folks, including some of his tennis colleagues have also suggested getting vaccinated.

latest from washington post ... While there is widespread anger over the arrival of the vaccine skeptic in a highly inoculated country that is enduring a severe spike in coronavirus infections, there is also frustration over the actions of Australian border agents, tournament officials and the government itself ...

Weighing the risk Novak Djokovic poses isn’t quite so simple, said Catherine Bennett, an epidemiologist at Deakin University in Melbourne.

“The protection from infection isn’t that different in someone who’s had a recent infection and someone who’s vaccinated,” she said, noting that it was unclear what variant was to blame for Djokovic’s positive test in December.

At the same time, Djokovic’s disputed medical exemption cuts against the spirit of exceptions, which are designed to help people whose vaccinations are disrupted by infections, not people who have shown no interest in getting inoculated, Bennett said.

Djokovic’s admission that he broke Serbia’s isolation rules and provided Australian authorities with inaccurate travel information could be viewed as adding to the health risk he poses, Bennett added.

“That’s the concern, that it’s not just one thing, it’s a multitude of things,” she said. “And that gets harder and harder for people to say, ‘Oh, well, we’ll just make an exception because he’s a good player.’ ”

Frustration with Djokovic is particularly acute in Melbourne, a city that loves its tennis tournament but has borne the brunt of Australia’s pandemic, including harsh lockdowns.

“Then you throw in Djokovic, who was not exactly beloved to begin with and who has been a bit dodgy when it comes to covid,” said O’Reily, “and you couldn’t have scripted a more perfect storm to get people angry" ...