Goodness. Novak Djokovic is anti vaccination bc he said he's (as per diff translations) "opposed to/against vaccination". That's rly all there is to it.

If there are ppl leveraging the episode as a sort of anti-Novak by proxy drive-by, then I've not the least bit of interest in that, but these attempts at muddying waters
and/or gaslighting others over his actual words are boring and irresponsible.

Whether it's Kosovo or Coronavirus it's right and proper to be critical and to scrutinise influential public figures' words/actions. Fandom and petty TT skirmishes can get f*cked. Some things are far too important.

If and when he says or does something to indicate he's not "opposed to vaccination", or otherwise moderates his stance based on, say, the release of a coronavirus vaccine , then it'll be right to revise the idea of him being "opposed to vaccination".

(saying he'd "make a decision" but "doesn't know" whether the thoughts he has will change, "empowering metabolism" etc - doesn't scream openness/receptivity to me but whatever)

Until then, we should prob do him the courtesy of not dispossessing him of his own expressed views.

Quite honestly, if you find Novak's stance on vaccines in any way surprising, WTF, or brandnewinformation, then you haven't been paying attention to his expressed ideals for the last several years.

What's often lost in these TT shitstorms tho is that the antivaxx movement like its many looser relatives in naturopathy, homeopathy, vitamins as cure-all, nutri-fads, "energy" etc is FAR more prevalent/embedded a feature of society than its "wacko" treatment would suggest.

(And that's before we even consider how it's found a natural home amongst the "individual freedom" loving crowd that see the conspiring/overreaching hand of the state in everything)

Bluntly, this thing overlaps/transcends loyalties and ideals. There'll be respected community figures/politicos, quite frequently members of one's wider family(!), even some academics, and yes (most unsurprisingly of all) beloved celebs/sports stars, clinging...

stubbornly, if only partially, to these belief systems (cos that's what they are) - most of whom likely won't conform to the "crazy" stereotype, less still identify as "anti-vaxxers" . The "wellness" industry isn't just fuelled by loudmouth cranks, but...

various stratas of education/awareness all of whom prob consider themselves "measured" , "probing" and "sceptical".

All of which is to say, it won't be a straightforward task undoing any of it - this point is particularly well made. https://twitter.com/Okwonga/status/1252157611383848960?s=19