- Fernando Duarte
- BBC International
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Djokovic is one of the best-known anti-vaccination athletes.
As the world focuses on the turmoil caused by the refusal of the Australian government to enter the world‘s top seed Novak Djokovic because of a vaccine issue, another tennis player Thiago Monteiro (Thiago Monteiro) Actively train and prepare for the Australian Open.
The Brazilian, ranked 89th in the world, doesn’t want to risk being rejected because of the vaccine, as he will receive a bonus of $100,000 (about 650,000 yuan) for participating in the first round.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely because of strict vaccination regulations that Monteiro decided to get vaccinated before the game.
“My decision to get vaccinated has nothing to do with the Australian Open. It’s about protecting myself and others,” Monteiro told the BBC.
high-profile opposition
Like Monteiro, the top 100 men’s tennis players and men’s tennis players have overall two-dose vaccination rates of 95 percent and 80 percent, respectively, according to the Professional Tennis Federation (ATP).
This is the percentage figure since the Australian Open announced the mandatory vaccination policy in October 2021. Before the Australian Open announcement, the vaccination rate for men’s tennis players was much lower, at around 65 per cent.
According to figures recently released by the International Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), 80% of female tennis players have completed two doses of the vaccine. As of January 6, 2022, the vaccination rate for the top 100 female tennis players is 85%.
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Brazil’s No. 1 and world No. 89 Monteiro said he was vaccinated to protect himself and others.
Not only tennis, but also sports such as basketball, golf and football have also seen cases like Djokovic.
Why are some elite athletes — the world‘s most health-conscious people — so reluctant to get vaccinated?
Monteiro himself has a hard time answering this question. While he declined to name his peers who didn’t want to get vaccinated, he admitted he was still baffled by hearing professional athletes question scientific advice.
Monteiro said he did not know why this happened, but he suspected it might have something to do with the disinformation circulating.
Dr. Britton, a sports psychologist at the University of Solent, believes that the first step in understanding this hesitancy is to understand that athletes tend to be more concerned with their physical condition than most of us.
“For athletes, the body is their most valuable commodity.” He said.
As a result, some of them may be more hesitant to get vaccinated if they don’t get enough information or if they are influenced by disinformation, Britton said.
For example, they might initially worry about whether a vaccine could affect their competitive performance, or even doping test results, Britton added.
Last year, Djokovic publicly stated that he was “against vaccinations.”
Experts such as Britton believe that if a high-profile person like Djokovic publicly questioned the vaccine, it would attract more attention.
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American professional football player Aaron Rodgers has expressed controversial views on the new crown.
A similar situation has happened in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL says more than 90 percent of players have completed two doses of the vaccine, but Aaron Rodgers supports homeopathy as an alternative to getting the Covid-19 vaccine.
He has also been accused of misleading the public about vaccinations.
Vaccine hesitancy also appears to exist among English football teams. Several games have been postponed due to multiple players contracting the new crown.
In the UK, a survey conducted in December by the English Football League (excluding the Premier League, but including the lower divisions of the Championship, League One and League Two) showed that of its 72 professional teams, a quarter of Players ‘don’t want to get vaccinated’.
Even in the Premier League, 23% of players missed two shots or missed one.
‘Athletes are also vulnerable to conspiracy theories’
Dr Weedon, Senior Lecturer in Exercise, Health and Fitness at Nottingham Trent University, explained that we always think of athletes as superhumans, but they are just as susceptible to misinformation or conspiracy theories as any of us.
Weedon is the coordinator of a new project that specifically looks at athletes’ reluctance to get vaccinated. He warned that athletes should not be singled out in the vaccination debate.
“Even if Djokovic doesn’t comment on this, there will still be many people around the world who are hesitant to get a vaccine,” he said.
But he agrees that such high-profile opposition to vaccines will certainly not help the authorities’ efforts to increase vaccination rates.
“Whether he meant it or not, Djokovic has become the poster child for vaccine skepticism. It’s because of his position and probably because of his opinions and expressions,” Whedon said.
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Athletes are just as susceptible to misinformation or conspiracy theories as any of us, experts say.
Set an example?
Britton warned that while mandatory vaccination orders from health authorities, sports bodies and teams have boosted vaccination rates among athletes, such a solution would also hinder efforts to make athletes “vaccine ambassadors”.
The more coercive it is, the more likely people will resist, Britton explained; if you want athletes to be role models, you need to try to persuade them.
But for Monteiro, not getting vaccinated was never an option. In addition to his mother’s ill health, he was also shocked by the number of deaths in his own country, Brazil (more than 600,000) due to the new crown.
While Monteiro did not name Djokovic specifically, the Brazilian top-seeded player said athletes should reflect on the possible impact of their actions.
“Even though there is ample evidence that it saves lives, people can still have their own opinions on vaccines.”
“But I know a lot of people in the world are looking at us. If we really have the ability to influence others, what we’re going to strive for is a positive influence,” he said.