Rafael Nadal believes that Novak Djokovic would have to take a vaccine for coronavirus in the future if he wants to continue playing tennis professionally. Here’s what our champ told Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia.
Q. In a few months there could be a vaccine. Are you in agreement with making it mandatory to compete? Novak Djokovic has expressed some doubts.
Rafael Nadal: I don’t know. I am nobody… Everyone is free, but if you belong to a tour, perhaps you have to be governed by the norms that the tour requires. If the tour requires a vaccination to protect everyone, then Djokovic will have to be vaccinated if he wants to keep playing tennis at the highest level. Me too. Everyone will have to comply. If the ATP or ITF requires us to have a vaccine to play tennis, then we’ll have to have it. Just as we have restrictions on taking many medications in order to comply with anti-doping. It’s a matter of following the rules.
VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) WE MISS YOUR MAGIC ON THE COURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) WE MISS YOUR BEAUTIFUL PRECIOUS TENNIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 AND WE MISS SEEING YOU GLIDE AND SLIDE AND THRIVE AND CREATING BEAUTY ….. CLASSY RAFA NADAL RETURNS…..AND DOING IT ALL WITH SUCH PRECIOUS SPORTSMANSHIP AND PASSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) WE LOVE YOU SWEETHEART AND HAVE BEEN WATCHING THIS AFTERNOON SOME OF YOUR BRILLIANT TENNIS …..THANK GOODNESS FOR REPLAYS…… RIGHT NOW AM WATCHING YOUR US OPEN 2013….. IT IS A LONG BEAUTIFUL MATCH AND I MISS SEEING YOUR MAGIC SO MUCH THAT IT WILL BE NICE TO ENJOY IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) OUR NEIGHBORS WERE SAYING TODAY THAT YOU ARE THE ULTIMATE CLASSY GOAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) THEY WERE SAYING THAT WITH YOUR PASSION AND DRIVE AND HARD WORK FOR SURE YOU WILL BE EARNING MORE GS TITLES THAN ANY OTHER PLAYER….AND MAKES A LOT OF SENSE……. IT IS SO IN YOU SWEETHEART ALL THAT STRENGTH AND FITNESS AND POWER …..YOU ARE SO VERY SPECIAL ….. ALL GORGEOUS HUNKY TAN…..GOD BLESS YOU DEAR RAFA…..YOU ARE SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH…..NO ONE IS AS EXCITING AND AS PASSIONATE AS YOU…..OUR LOVE FOR TENNIS IS EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA SPECIAL……..
ENJOY EVERYTHING SWEETHEART AND MAKE SURE IF YOU GET ANY SHOT, MAKE SURE YOUR TEAM IS THERE, YOUR DOCTOR, ALL PRESENT TO MAKE DOUBLE SURE YOU ARE GETTING AN EXCELLENT TREATMENT….SOLID AND SAFE……. AND THAT YOU SEE EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE GETTING….. WE LOVE YOU SWEETHEART AND MISS YOU AND SENDING LOTS OF LOVE AND HAPPINESS AND VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND AND LOTS OF FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) .XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
All people are free to get vacine or boy.
The ATP is wrong to oblige players to be vaccinated..
Nole we will be delighted if you decide you don’t want to play, are you being a big baby and don’t want the needle??, but if this rule is going to apply for travel reasons during the Pandemic, stya at home. None of us will feel sorry you, but think you will lose many of your own fans
The way Rafa and i see it is that Novak has two choices in regard to the vaccine: take it or leave it. If he takes it then he travels. If he leaves it, he stays home. Simple as that. Enough said. Over to you Novak.
I agree with Lorna completely. Novak, the joker, you can take it or leave it.
RR, I was just watching Dr. Richard Hatchett on a PBS station and he said that there is no vaccine for SARS because it simply disappeared.
As for MERS, and I will paraphrase him, MERS has killed people but not at a high rate therefore there is no financial incentive to produce a vaccine.
I don’t know if this answered your question but it possibly can give you a head start if you wish to further your inquiry.
Stay well.
Thanks so much for sharing that info Margo. I love PBS and consider them a reliable news outlet.
The vaccine in trials right now at Oxford U. in the U.K. originally started as one to fight MERS but when Covid developed they were able to adjust it to the new virus. Therefore they are months ahead of the others. If all goes well they are hopeful it will be ready by September. Might be overly optimistic but time will tell.
There are other diseases like HIV-AIDS that still have no vaccine but therapeutics that work have been found.
Wishing for all Rafa fans to remain safe and healthy until this crisis is over.
Stay healthy Rafa. Always with you❤️
Well believe, the vaccine is not necessary. It is just about the immune system. Some people have it and others don’t. There is just too much worries about this virus. I have been surrounded by people with sickness because of covid-19, some of them dead, and I am completely healthy, just as many other people. Just a few get sick.
So don’t worry. Live your lives freely.
Sorry, you neglected to mention where you earned your medical degree.
Anecdotal evidence is notoriously unreliable.
I believe most of us here choose to follow the advice of actual medical experts who are dealing with and studying this disease every day.
Hi RR,
I think you are right! I am one of them. This Coronavirus is contagious and deadly.
Take care everyone❤️
Count me in RR and MiMi but sadly a lot of people just don’t get it. For me, facts matter.
Stay well all, even you anti-vaxxers and conspiracy-mongers.
Golonzo – I’m happy you haven’t been affected by the virus. What do you have to say to all the people world wide who have lost family members & friends to the coronavirus-covid-19?
This is what Djokovic had to say about the matter.
“Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel,” Djokovic said, according to a translation from Reuters. “But if it becomes compulsory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision. I have my own thoughts about the matter and whether those thoughts will change at some point, I don’t know.”
Hypothetically, if the season was to resume in July, August or September, though unlikely, I understand that a vaccine will become a requirement straight after we are out of strict quarantine and there is no vaccine yet.”
I can’t tell if he is against all vaccines or just a possible future COVID-19 vaccine.
No vaccine is 100% effective; some individuals will have an adverse reaction.
Some individuals will have an adverse reaction. Some might even die with or without a vaccination. I may be wrong but at one time, & I believe it is still true, people can’t travel from one country to another without a smallpox vaccination. I guess that means you are not adverse to some vaccinations. You have to do what you feel is right for you. You won’t be missed by me if you aren’t on tour.
Vaccine safety is a huge issue.
What huge safety issue? Which vaccine[s]? Medical journals? Articles? Countries? I’d like to be informed and would appreciate you supplying some facts. Thanks
Ask your doctor. It might be on google. Have you ever applied for a passport? In the U.S.A. You have to have specific vaccinations to enter school.
Once this vaccine is proved 1000% safe, that it won’t deform people or turn them into zombies overnight, yes we will all take it. Vaccine that was produced to prevent Polio back in 50’s did more harm than good as more recently one to prevent cervical cancer. Rafa is wise but Djokovic is obstinate
Stop with your conspiracy theories.
I think the media are getting way ahead of themselves here. I very much hope that an effective vaccine is found tomorrow, but, realistically, it’s going to be a while.
People are entitled to their personal opinions, but I do wonder what Nole does about ordinary travel vaccinations when playing in countries for which they’re advised. I had vaccinations before going to China, and to Brazil.
I too have wondered the same when I first heard Novak say this. And I wonder if his wife and children are vaccinated? Vaccines have prevented many many horrible diseases and deaths.
Vaccines rule.
Agree with you Becki. The Djokovic family believes in natural remedies and Jelena even posted an article promoting the conspiracy theory that Covid-19 was caused by 5g networks.
I truly hope that an effective vaccine can be produced in spite of the failure to find ones for other coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS. Then once proven safe Novak will be required to have it in order to ensure that he won’t potentially put other players at risk.
If that is unacceptable to him then I suppose he will just have to end his career.
Setinthepast I agree with you re the vaccine timetable. Trials have already started because people have volunteered to be test subjects. My concerns are the eliminated steps/protocols that should be followed when creating and formulating a vaccine. I hope all the volunteers come through without any problems.
Re Djokovic, I asked myself the same thing. Maybe he was referring only to COVID-19. Or maybe he gets a medical dispensation when traveling? Or maybe he just doesn’t want to be told he has to be vaccinated?
It’s still early in this pandemic so I am keeping my ears and eyes peeled to the real news.
Stay well.