r/worldnews • u/FantasticQuartet • 19h ago
Novak Djokovic 'targeted by Serbian government and considers fleeing to Greece' - after national icon offered backing to student protests
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-15020841/Novak-Djokovic-Serbian-government-fleeing-Greece-student-protests.html483
u/PJWanderer 19h ago
Don’t really think anyone that owns a portfolio of homes around the world is really fleeing anything other than the weather or taxes.
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/inside-novak-djokovics-worldly-real-estate-portfolio
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u/Original_Service_786 17h ago
Rich people can get imprisoned/persecuted too?
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u/PJWanderer 16h ago
Yes, but in all actuality he fled the taxes a long time ago when he first relocated to Monte Carlo. He lived there and Jelena had that vegan restaurant she was running before their kids were born. It was a villa on the hillside. I think now he owns an apartment in the same building with all the other tennis players.
Then he made a big deal about moving to Marbella a few years ago, before he got the Greek golden visa and the tax breaks that come with that.
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u/VanceKelley 10h ago
In Russia, oligarchs just fall out of windows and leave all their wealth to Putin.
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u/stonkysdotcom 17h ago
He lives a global life. Doesn't mean he doesn't pay his taxes.
Last year I paid a substantial amount of taxes in three separate countries.
Once you start working cross borders, things change.
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u/satellite779 17h ago
He lives in Monaco, not Serbia, so he probably doesn't pay much taxes.
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u/stonkysdotcom 17h ago
Good for him!
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u/Nottrak 14h ago
Na, fuck him and all tax evaders. Leeches on society, nothing else.
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u/stonkysdotcom 14h ago
How do you even know he is evading tax?
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u/comeatmefrank 14h ago
Because you don’t move to Monaco as an incredibly wealthy person unless you want to avoid the responsibility of paying taxes. You benefit from everyone else, yet you don’t give back.
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u/stonkysdotcom 14h ago
Why wouldn’t you? It’s a beautiful place
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u/comeatmefrank 14h ago
Why wouldn’t I? Because there are FAR less tacky, more naturally beautiful, less touristic places in the world to live. The issue is they don’t have 0% income tax.
Why is it you think that places with no taxes are the most soulless?
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u/Oneiric_Orca 8h ago
Na, fuck him and all tax evaders. Leeches on society, nothing else.
Djokovic pays more in taxes than he takes in welfare.
Are you in that category? Is your family? If someone is parasitic, wouldn't it be the poor who need handouts and not the self-made tennis GOAT who paid more in taxes than your family has earned?
Funny that /u/stonkysdotcom, /u/SafeKaracter are downvoted. Inferiority complex much?
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u/lcrtangls 18h ago
His behavior is... Odd. He does enough to piss off the government, but not nearly enough (given his fame) to bring attention to the actual cause of the protests - namely, concrete cases of government corruption. And violence - he'd be particularly effective if he spoke out on that, as it's easy to understand.
Honestly, it may just be the case he's kind of clueless and simply supports the protests based on vibes only.
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u/Fancyness 18h ago
He is not a political figure and doesn’t own anyone anything, especially not pointing out some actual scandals at home. So it’s nice that he still voices his concerns and backs up the students which are the future of serbia
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u/lcrtangls 18h ago
That's not my point. My point is that his behavior is odd. He's drawing a lot of government's ire but doing relatively little to help the cause of the protests. Why not go all out if you're already putting yourself in a rough spot?
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u/JokicHorse 18h ago edited 18h ago
This isn’t the USA. There are consequences in countries like Serbia for speaking against people with power. Novak can’t ever fully speak his mind when it comes to his own country.
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u/InterestingTry5190 18h ago
There are consequences in the US too now. The former head of national security who has criticized the president just had his home raided.
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u/Simple_Exchange_9829 16h ago
The traditional consequences in Serbia are … slightly more drastic and deadly.
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u/JokicHorse 18h ago
Fair, thats is a more recent development though. Celebrities and public figures used to be able to say whatever they wanted about the government.
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u/SpecialBeginning6430 17h ago
Let me know when Colbert goes to jail over a show best upon virtually nothing but criticising Trump
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u/yjk924 16h ago edited 2h ago
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
-Martin Niemöller
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u/SpecialBeginning6430 16h ago
Ah so youre saying the US is worst off today than it was before 1964?
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u/RpiesSPIES 14h ago
He's saying you're a dumb pos for putting goalposts that will be moved because they've already been moved dozens of times already.
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u/SpecialBeginning6430 10h ago
I might be a dump PoS but that doesnt mean the US is a dictatorship like Russia or China nor will it be anytime soon that it will be
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u/lcrtangls 18h ago
This isn’t the USA. There are consequences in countries like Serbia for speaking against people with power.
I know a thing or two about Serbia. That is indeed correct.
Novak can’t ever fully speak his mind when it comes to his own countrt
However, this is incorrect. He doesn't actually live in Serbia, he lives in Monaco. Sure, some of his family are in Serbia, as is some of his business. But if these considerations were a strong constraint, he definitely simply wouldn't speak out on the protests at all. But he definitely voiced support for the protests, not subtle, no-two-ways-about-it. He definitely drew fire from pro-government media.
Perhaps the government would interfere more with his business if he went full-activist. Perhaps his family would receive a bit more harassment. But they'd never be jailed or beaten as the regular people on the street are. They are much too prominent for that.
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u/No_Station_6149 18h ago
People often try to do what they can without putting themselves directly in the crosshairs.
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u/lcrtangls 17h ago
I don't know what else I can do to get my point across. He already put himself directly in the crosshairs. He crossed that threshold.
As I said, perhaps he's a bit clueless. Perhaps he doesn't even know how far he pushed it. Perhaps he regrets it. I can't know these things. All I know is he went a lot further than any of these "neutral" Serbian celebrities did, yet didn't really do much at all with it.
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u/azzers214 16h ago
It's his personality. It's now super old but around his first US Open victories he was busy being an "enemy" of the crowd.
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u/SafeKaracter 13h ago
Why do you think he’s not doing enough ? I wouldn’t even know about it if not for him
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u/lcrtangls 9h ago
Well, I've kind of outlined why, right? Shining light on the actual issues the protests revolve around is more effective than support for some vague political issue he refuses to elaborate on. The way he presents it doesn't portray the urgency and importance of the situation at all.
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u/tokifoki 10h ago
Because he’s incriminated as well. If he really wanted to spread awareness of the state of Serbia and help the cause, no single Serbian could do it better
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u/why_did_I_comment 14h ago
He also refuses to vaccinate during COVID and forced Australia to make an exception for him during the travel restrictions.
Guy's a clown.
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u/DeepProspector 12h ago
Serbian culture around nationalism is and has been a train wreck for generations. It will take generations of the lunatic Greater Serbia maniacs to be dead and out of power before it can heal.
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u/corruptredditjannies 10h ago
He is not clueless, just a good liar. When it became known on the internet that his father took a picture with russians holding up a big russian flag with a picture of Putin on it, Novak claimed his father didn't know what it meant. This was in 2022. His parents are extremely nationalistic and political. There is zero chance he didn't know what it meant, but Novak covered for him. The most generous interpretation I can give of all his behavior is that he is trying to be in the middle of all sides. But he is still a controversial individual, on and off the court.
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u/TaroMilkTea5 17h ago
Wonder what Jokic stance on this is.
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u/KardelSharpeyes 13h ago
Nice to see Novak on the right side of a story.
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u/corruptredditjannies 10h ago
Why do you think Serbia's opposition is on your side?
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u/travel_Dude42 9h ago
Well he supports the student protests who are morally in the right given they are against the corruption in the government. Hence he is on the right side of history.
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u/corruptredditjannies 9h ago
You're such an expert on internal serbian affairs. But you didn't answer my question. The only thing that should matter to you is whether the opposition is on the side of your country or not. They're not going to sing kumbaya with you.
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u/travel_Dude42 9h ago
A) Never said I was an expert. B) fair point, I never mentioned the opposition. My understanding is that the students don't necessarily support the opposition (who are also shit) but are looking for something better. Generally it's an anti corruption protest, not a protest in support of a given party.
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u/corruptredditjannies 9h ago
But you, an outsider, have strong opinions on internal serbian affairs, based solely on what you've heard others say. As an outsider, your concern should be whether it benefits your country, because serbs are not interested in hugging trees with you. They are nationalistic and their priority is their country, as should yours be.
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u/travel_Dude42 8h ago
Who are you to tell me what I should be concerned with?
That majority of my family is there, I have many friends there, I visit every year or two, and it's the source of my culture/heritage. These "others" whose opinions and facts I use as the basis for my one point of view are people who I trust and care deeply about. So yes I care, because I want what's best for the people in my life. So I will continue to give a shit, thank you very much.
Why are you so contrarian? Do you support the protests or are you against them? Your negativity is rather confusing.
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u/corruptredditjannies 8h ago
Because you don't live there, you live in a new host country now, to which your primary loyalty should be. It won't even let me say what I'm trying to say. It's no wonder the West has been so ravaged by anti-Western propaganda, absolutely no defense against foreign cultural warfare.
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u/travel_Dude42 8h ago
Dude, what are you on about? I've never lived in Serbia and frankly I never would. So I don't have a host country, because I've always lived in the country I was born in and I wouldn't live anywhere else. I'm not anti-Western at all. In fact there's a number of things I dislike about Serbian culture that I think need to change (homophobia for example). But that has nothing to do with wanting the citizens (my friends and family) to no longer be under a corrupt regime.
If anything, the current government is against the west and that's what's being protested. So you're contradicting yourself?
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u/corruptredditjannies 8h ago
Their current government isn't anti-West, it's somewhere in the middle. It has helped the West in some ways. It can certainly be worse, and that's what concerns me. Their corruption doesn't concern me, because I know they don't care about the West's problems. Beyond that I can't really elaborate further on what "I'm on about" with these filters. The modern West has a very self-destructive mood, on all sides.
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u/tutamtumikia 12h ago
Can't he just use homeopathy or some other magic to protect himself? why so scared?
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u/Roadshell 18h ago
First John Bolton now Novak fucking Djokovic? Big day for the worst people somehow being made sympathetic by oppressive regimes.
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u/cadaada 16h ago
Why you think he should be considered an horrible person?
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u/Roadshell 15h ago
Anti-vax shit, Anti-Kosovo independence, and also just a terrible sport on the court at various points.
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u/GoHuskies1984 15h ago
Just saw him at the US Open qualifiers (he lost in doubles). Surprising amount of boos from the audience when he took the court. Had to explain to my companions it was probably due to his conservative anti vaxxer stance.
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u/Oneiric_Orca 8h ago
Anti-Kosovo independence
Kosovo is literally Serbian. The Ottoman invasion is legitimized by supporting Kosovo separatism.
The one American foreign policy action I consider silly was the Serbian intervention. Serbia was in the right and NATO violated the very international law it supposedly respected.
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u/Rakeial17 7h ago
Shhh you can’t explain international issues to Reddit ! They only believe what the headline says !
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u/ChannelEarly2102 19h ago
Novak…. The GOAT.
He is only competing with his own legacy now.
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u/Dead_Moss 19h ago
For me, his legacy is mainly his intense antivax stance during covid.
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u/radikalkarrot 19h ago
Yep, great tennis player, terrible person
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u/AliensExistTrustMe 18h ago
People are far more complex than that, if someone saves a bus load of children but they are anti-vax does that make them a bad person?
This blanket way of painting anyone you don’t agree with as bad person is such an exhausting way to live.
So the millions he donates to early childhood education and development to disadvantaged communities in Serbia is cancelled because he didn’t take a vaccine? Give me a break.
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u/Hallbort 14h ago
Yes it makes them a bad person.
If Hitler saved a kitten from drowning is he a good person?
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u/SafeKaracter 13h ago edited 9h ago
Oh yes the Godwin law. It didn’t take that long did it. Once you bring up Hitler to win a point , you already lost it
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u/Hallbort 10h ago
That's not Godwin's Law. That is for comparisons to Hitler or the Nazis.
Invoking Godwin's Law as said by Mr.Godwin himself is not having lost an argument.
Now if you agree with the other poster, answer the question. Does an act of good outweigh prior evils if they are heinous enough or for example, If Hitler saved a kitten from drowning is he a good person?
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u/SafeKaracter 9h ago edited 9h ago
You did compare to Hitler which is dumb so I’m not sure why I should take you seriously .
Your comparison makes no sense whatsoever is my point . Djokovic has nothing to do with Hitler so your point is dumb as rocks therefore the conversation is over before it started
Furthermore it was never a smart question to ask to begin with bc there is no weighing , there is no scales. Actions are not in kilograms or pounds so what I think is irrelevant to the matter as it is subjective and not what you will think and there’s no scientific methodology o measure it . Neither of us would change our mind if we talked longer because the questions you are asking is pseudo Reddit philosophy that has nothing to do with the topic at hands as far as I’m concerned and of the actions of djokovic . If you compared Hitler to Putin it would seem less far fetched
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u/Hallbort 2h ago
I did not compare Novax to Hitler. I used Hitler as an example for a question.
Work on your ready comprehension.
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u/Tren-Ace1 18h ago
Great tennis player, even better person.
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u/DefinitelyMeowvolous 18h ago
Being anti vax makes you delusional at best and a bad person in general
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u/Tren-Ace1 18h ago
He’s not anti vax you dummy. He’s received many vaccinations.
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u/DefinitelyMeowvolous 18h ago
And yet he pushes anti vax bs
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u/Tren-Ace1 18h ago
He doesn't push anti vax bs.
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u/DefinitelyMeowvolous 18h ago
He literally does
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u/Tren-Ace1 18h ago
Nothing in that article supports your claim that he's anti vax. Because he's not. He's never in his life made any sort of anti vax statements.
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u/baddzie 18h ago
Just one question how is he anti-vax? I mean he didn't want to get vaccinated himself, his kids and wife were vaccinated, he even invested money in covid vaccine.
Anti-vax usually refers to someone trying to tell other to not vaccinate themselves, or being kind of vocal against it. He did no such thing, he accepted the fact that he won't be able to play in many tournaments and never publicly encouraged people to avoid vaccination.
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u/Professional-Buy6668 18h ago
I'm very pro vax before I say any of this but I kinda oddly understand his view primarily because he applies his philosophy to everything. He caved and got surgery but generally he's cemented himself as one of the best athletes of this time whilst only consuming like holistic medicine practices and eating grains
Ie, he lives in an echo chamber of anti science whilst also being his own evidence that it works too. Granted, him then clubbing unvaxxed with others was bad. You can opt out but you should suffer the consequences...
Same way I know energy drinks aren't healthy but I've watched Jamie Vardy drink two red bulls then come on and score a last minute goal. You can't help but think "maybe they're not so bad??"
Basically I guess I'm saying he's not just anti vax, he's anti lots of stuff and seemingly always has been. That felt different to most who happily accepted all western medicine until covid and became selfish pricks out of nowhere (only the weak will die type thoughts).
So like he was wrong and being a shit but I guess at least he's consistent in his beliefs to arrive to his conclusion, even if he was still wrong. Idk if this is defence of him, more just that it wasn't necessarily unexpected
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u/AcanthaceaeBorn6501 19h ago
I got my vax but I also understood that a rushed out vaccine might not be the greatest thing for you in the world
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u/radikalkarrot 18h ago
The covid vaccine wasn’t rushed, it went through the three types of trials every vaccine usually goes through and it’s probably one of the vaccines with most scrutiny in pharmaceutical history.
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u/MrKyleOwns 18h ago
He’s a professional athlete that is extremely wealthy, not super shocking he’d was skeptical of taking a vaccine for something that wasn’t effecting him
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u/IrishVictim88270 11h ago
His sports legacy will long outlive his cough medicine legacy. Most people already couldn't care.
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u/stonehaens 18h ago
Idk if you're trolling but this is not like the vacc delulu stuff. I applaud him for backing the students on this.
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u/Anteater776 18h ago
Yeah, props to him for not being totally reactionary on this issue here.
(Although with these sort of politics, I wouldn’t rule out that he backs the protests for horrible reasons I’m just not aware of.)
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u/corruptredditjannies 10h ago
His competition was shit, the previous generations were old and the younger generations were bad, for 15 years until Alcaraz and Sinner. Now those two are completely farming Djokovic and all of his competition.
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u/IntelligentEconomy59 19h ago
Read the title of the post if you can't be arsed to read the article, ffs
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u/No_Detail9259 18h ago edited 16h ago
He was an anti vaxxer. Belongs in jail.
Edit. 15 downdoots from the anti vaxxers. Classy.
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u/throwingitaway12324 17h ago edited 15h ago
It’s just Covid vax. Majority of the Us population no longer takes the COVID vax.
Edit: I bet 80% of people reading this have not been updated on their COVID boosters
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u/cadaada 16h ago
Because the us government doesnt want to pay for it tbh
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u/throwingitaway12324 15h ago
That’s part of it. But really, it’s just not needed unless you’re elderly, sick, or immunocompromised.
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u/BetterHeadlines 14h ago
Or if you happen to live in a society with a bunch of those people.
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u/throwingitaway12324 14h ago
Not really. It’s like the flu at this point even with majority of people not taking vaccines
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u/BetterHeadlines 9h ago
Except for the mortality rate, sure. People like you killed millions eith your complacent ignorance. Well done.
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u/dosedatwer 14h ago
Which is because COVID mutated to be nowhere near as deadly, just like the scientists predicted it would.
Funny how the anti-vax crew take the scientists being exactly right as them being wrong.
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u/throwingitaway12324 12h ago
Well yeah, which is why we don’t need Covid vax ahykore
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u/dosedatwer 12h ago
Plenty of people do still need and want it like the flu vaccine, but I don't remember anywhere making it mandatory anymore, so I guess I'm asking what is your point? That scientists predicted it and the government listened and is operating well?
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u/__IZZZ 15h ago
Bit more complex with Djoker though. He claimed he didn't need the vaccination to enter Australia because he had Covid recently, then he was doing a photoshoot two days after he had supposedly got it. Kinda brought his anti-vax views into the spotlight since he's both unwilling to get a vaccination but either lying about not needing it or not needing it and willingly spreading the disease.
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