Novak Djokovic receives a COVID-19 vaccination exemption to enter Australia for Australian Open

Djokovic, who had declined to reveal his COVID-19 vaccination status, said previously that he was unsure whether he would compete at the Grand Slam due to concerns over Australia’s quarantine rules.

“I‘ve spent fantastic quality time with my loved ones over the break and today I’m heading Down Under with an exemption permission. Let’s go 2022,” the Serbian player said on Instagram.

The Australian Open confirmed Djokovic had received a medical exemption in a statement released late on Tuesday night.

The statement said Djokovic had received the exemption following “a rigorous review process involving two separate independent panels of medical experts.”

“One of those was the Independent Medical Exemption Review Panel appointed by the Victorian Department of Health. They assessed all applications to see if they met the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) guidelines,” the statement read.

The Victorian government released a statement on Tuesday night saying that it had worked closely with Tennis Australia on setting up an “independent and rigorous process to assess requests for medical exemptions at the Australian Open”.

“Any player who is granted a medical exemption will have gone through a two-stage, independent process to verify they have a genuine medical condition that meets the criteria for an exemption.”  

No more information about the condition Djokovic has that led to his exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine will be released because “the personal information of any applicant is redacted to ensure the independence of the process.”