Sport

“Rules are rules”: Australia Denies Entry to Djokovic

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Australia has cancelled Novak Djokovic‘s visa and denied the men’s number one tennis player entry.

The country’s border agency made the announcement on Thursday, saying the sportsman “failed to provide appropriate evidence” to meet entry requirements.

Djokovic, who is from Serbia, earlier said he had obtained a medical exemption from COVID-19 vaccination in order to play in the upcoming Australian Open tournament.

Djokovic was taken from Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport to the Park Hotel, a government detention hotel notorious for a number of coronavirus outbreaks, pending his removal.

He is expected to be flown out later on Thursday, although there were reports that Djokovic’s lawyers would file an appeal against the decision.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed Djokovic’s visa had been cancelled on social media.

“Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID, we are continuing to be vigilant,” he said on Twitter.

Later, at a media conference in Canberra, Morrison told reporters that Djokovic had failed to provide sufficient proof for why he should have a medical exemption from vaccination and denied the player had been “singled out”.

Australia has imposed strict measures to combat COVID-19, including requiring full vaccination, with exemptions for medical reasons, for people entering the country from overseas.

People in Melbourne endured a long and strict lockdown to bring cases under control in 2020, and are now worried about a surge in cases fueled by the more transmissible Omicron variant.

Many were furious that the unvaccinated player had been granted a visa to play in the Grand Slam tournament, which he has won nine times, and the outcry prompted Mr Morrison to promise to deport Djokovic if he did not provide sufficient evidence to support the exemption.

“There should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic at all. None whatsoever,” the prime minister said during a news conference on Wednesday.

In a dramatic series of events, Djokovic touched down at Tullamarine Airport at approximately 11:30pm on Wednesday after a 14-hour flight from Dubai, but was ushered into an isolation room under police guard when Australian officials said that his visa did not allow for medical exemptions.

Djokovic’s case had sparked confusion, with the government for the state of Victoria, where Melbourne is the state capital, saying it would not support his visa application.

The move by the Australian government threatens a diplomatic incident between Australia and Serbia.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he had spoken to Djokovic on the phone, telling him that “the whole of Serbia is with him and that our authorities are undertaking all measures in order that maltreatment of the world’s best tennis player ends as soon as possible”.
“In line with all standards of international public law, Serbia will fight for Novak Djokovic, justice and truth.”

The player’s father, Srdjan Djokovic has called for his son to receive a hero’s welcome on his return to Serbia.

Culled from Aljazeera

Health

Encourage your people to get vaccinated – Oluomo charges leaders

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Following the recent flagging-off of the mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ogun State, the speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Mr. Olakunle Oluomo, has enjoined political office holders, including the state lawmakers and councillors to mobilize people en-masse towards getting vaccinated.

Mr. Oluomo who gave the admonition at the plenary session held at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, noted that the step became important with a view to flattening the curve of the pandemic, especially as the festive period approaches.

The speaker also encouraged Community Development Councils and Associations, religious leaders to mobilise and orientate members of the public on the need to get vaccinated, which is free in all health centres and designated points.

He lauded the 60-day window of opportunity provided by the state government to enable more people, including residents of border communities and people living in high-density areas get vaccinated.

Oluwatoyin Adegoke

News

Covid-19 vaccination has not been suspended – Ibadan North West LG

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The code chain officer, Covid 19 vaccination in Ibadan North West Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mr Adediran Adedamola says vaccination is still on against rumour that the exercise has been suspended.

Mr Adedamola, who stated this in an interview with Radio Nigeria in Ibadan, noted that the number of people coming around for the exercise had reduced drastically.

The code chain officer explained that though thousands of people had benefited from the exercise, there was still need for the front liners to benefit from the exercise.

Mr Adedamola also said there had been no record of adverse effects of the vaccine on people except for mild complaints of fever and headache.

He further stressed that the vaccination would go a long way in curtailing the spread of Covid-19.

Akinola/ Oluremi

Foreign

Denmark Reports Two Cases of Serious Illness, Death, after Astrazeneca Shot

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Denmark said on Saturday that one person had died and another fell seriously ill with blood clots and cerebral haemorrhage after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination.

The two, both hospital staff members, had both received the AstraZeneca vaccine less than 14 days before getting ill, the authority that runs public hospitals in Copenhagen said.

The Danish Medicines Agency confirmed it had received two “serious reports”, without giving further details. There were no details of when the hospital staff got ill.

Denmark, which halted using the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 11, was among more than a dozen countries that temporarily paused use of the vaccine after a small number of reports of cases of rare brain blood clots sent scientists and governments scrambling to determine any link.

Some countries including Germany and France this week reversed their decision to suspend use of the vaccine following an investigation into the reports of blood clots by the European Union’s drug watchdog, which said on Thursday it is still convinced the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

Denmark – along with Sweden and Norway – said on Friday they needed more time to decide whether to use the vaccine.

“We prioritize reports of suspected serious side effects such as these and examine them thoroughly to assess whether there is a possible link to the vaccine,” Tanja Erichsen, acting director of Pharmacovigilance at the Danish Medicines Agency, said in a tweet on Saturday.

“We are in the process of dealing with the two specific cases.”

European Medicines Agency (EMA) director Emer Cooke said on Thursday the watchdog could not definitively rule out a link between blood clot incidents and the vaccine in its investigation.

But she said the “clear” conclusion of the review was that the benefits in protecting people from the risk of death or hospitalisation outweighs the possible risks. The issue deserves further analysis, the EMA said.

The EMA’s review covering 20 million people in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA), which links 30 European countries, included seven cases of blood clots in multiple blood vessels and 18 cases of a rare condition that is difficult to treat called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).

AstraZeneca, which developed the shot with Oxford University, has said a review covering more than 17 million people who had received its shots in the EU and Britain had found no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.

The company on Saturday declined to comment on the new cases in Denmark, but referred to a statement published on Thursday, in which its chief medical officer, Ann Taylor, said:

“Vaccine safety is paramount and we welcome the regulators’ decisions which affirm the overwhelming benefit of our vaccine in stopping the pandemic. We trust that, after the regulators’ careful decisions, vaccinations can once again resume across Europe.”

Reuters

Health

COVID-19: Morocco Launches Massive Vaccination

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In the coming weeks, the kingdom of Morocco would begin a massive vaccination operation against COVID-19 in the country.

This move followed the approval of the submission of the Country’s national scientific committee by King Mohammed the sixth.

In a statement issued in Rabat, the kingdom stated that, the campaign was a real response to end the acute phase of the pandemic.

The nationwide operation is expected to provide Moroccans with a vaccine as an appropriate means of immunizing against COVID- 19 and controlling its spread.

The Morocco’s National scientific committee noted that the safety, efficiency and immunogenicity of the vaccine had been proven through the clinical studies done on it.

The two-injection vaccination schedule is for citizens above 18 years ,and priority would be given to frontline workers including health workers, security officers,education works and the elderly before extending it to the rest of the population.

Afolasade Osigwe