‘Not an amazing time’: Vaccine-hesitant Aryna Sabalenka reveals she’s had jab after catching Covid
The world's number two player, Aryna Sabalenka, has relented and received a vaccine against Covid-19 after previously expressing hesitancy against the jab, adding that she hopes she can avoid quarantining ahead of future events.
Earlier this year the Belarusian star, 23, admitted that she wasn't keen on her or her family receivING a vaccine against Covid-19 amid fears of debilitating side-effects, adding that she didn't "trust" the rollout of the shots.
"I don’t really want it yet and I don’t want my family to take it," she said in March, adding her voice to what became a growing chorus of sports stars expressing their distrust of the various vaccines – a stance also taken by some of the biggest names in her own sport, as well as further afield.
Since then, though, things have changed for Sabalenka.
She was forced to sit out the BNP Paribas Open after she tested positive for Covid-19, and faced with further interruptions to her career as tennis authorities continue to lead towards vaccine mandates to play in tournaments, Sabalenka says that she relented.
"I think I’m clear right now because in Miami I did the vaccine, Johnson & Johnson," she said, referring to the single-shot vaccine.
"Hopefully, I’m safe because I don’t want to stay in quarantine any more. It’s not a lot of fun."
Vaccines against Covid-19 have become an increasing subplot in the tennis world, with the first Grand Slam on 2022 tennis calendar, the Australian Open, having notified players of strict vaccine requirements which could potentially lead to a host of top players being disallowed from competing.
But Sabalenka has now bypassed any such concerns – and also stated that her own Covid infection was a grueling one.
"I stayed in the room for 10 days. I was doing some work out there, but it wasn’t enough," she said.
"For four days I was really sick, I couldn’t move. I didn’t have taste, I didn’t have smell. Wasn’t really an amazing time."
