Dan Andrews’ intransigence on vaccine passports may cost us marquee events

Victoria has long prided itself on being the home of major events but if we keep demanding vaccine passports it could cost us dearly.

In a sane world whether Novak Djokovic is vaccinated or not would be nobody’s business but his own.

But we live in Victoria where vaccine passports will endure until 2023, according to Dear Leader Dan Andrews.

That means the world’s number one tennis player can forget about playing at the Australian Open unless he is double jabbed and willing to make public his vaccination status.

The Serbian superstar may not be the only top-line player missing the tournament; around two in five elite tennis players are not vaccinated, according to the BBC.

Djokovic does not want to disclose whether he’s been vaccinated against Covid-19 but we do know that the nine-time Australian Open champion was infected with the virus in mid-2020.

Those who have been previously infected have natural immunity but that doesn’t seem to matter to vaccine passport enthusiasts who relish the opportunity to exclude the unvaccinated from society.

China, Singapore and Japan would love to stage the tennis. Picture: AFP

World-renowned infectious disease expert and Harvard Medical School professor, Dr Martin Kulldorff, has said that if vaccine passports are to be used then those who have natural immunity should be granted equal access.

“Those who have had Covid and do not want the vaccine are not anti-vaccine, they simply understand science and natural acquired immunity,” he wrote citing a large scale study from Israel.

That 700,000-person study found: “Natural immunity confers longer lasting and stronger protection against infection, symptomatic disease and hospitalization caused by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, compared to the BNT162b2 two-dose vaccine-induced immunity.”

Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Marty Makary, is another who argues that the latest data shows “natural immunity is as good as or better than vaccine-induced immunity.”

He wrote in the Washington Post last month: “Many elected leaders and public health officials have held on far too long to the hypothesis that natural immunity offers unreliable protection against Covid-19 — a contention that is being rapidly debunked by science.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has encouraged Victoria to be flexible and suggested a pathway for the likes of Djokovic to enter the country by completing a period in quarantine.

Melbourne fans have already missed out on two Australian Grand Prix.

“There needs to be a little bit of flexibility … I think we’ve just got to be sensible and practical. And we want major events in this country. A lot of jobs depend on it,” Mr Morrison said.

But thus far premier Andrews is doubling down on the long term use of vaccine passports even as a number of infectious disease experts, including Dr Nick Coatsworth, call for Victoria to follow NSW’s lead.

There are now fears that Andrews’ intransigence may cost the state a marquee event, particularly if we fail to fall into line with NSW where vaccine passports will be ditched on December 1.

Victoria has long prided itself as the home of major events with a line-up of world class sporting fixtures starting with the Australian Open in January through to the Boxing Day Test.

But as Covid-19 goes from pandemic to endemic we must adapt or be left behind.

It’s not just Sydney that wants our major events but several Asian countries with China, Singapore and Japan particularly keen to host a grand slam event.

The next battleground after the Open will be the F1 Grand Prix.

Premier Andrews’ boneheadedness may end up costing the state more than one major event.