Australian PM to ban Kanye West tour without full vaccination
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has insisted that celebrities won't be exempt from abiding by the country's strict COVID protocols.
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Australian PM Scott Morrison / Kanye West
Today, Saturday, Australia's PM Scott Morrison said that hip-hop artist Kanye West is required to be fully vaccinated if he wants to have any concerts in Australia.
This came after media said that Kanye was planning to perform in Australia in March, just two weeks after world tennis number 1 Novak Djokovic lost his final bid to avoid deportation from Australia, ending an 11-day battle over his COVID-19 vaccination status and slamming his dream of a record 21st Grand Slam.
Morrison told a news conference yesterday, Saturday, “The rules are you have to be fully vaccinated. They apply to everybody, as people have seen most recently. It doesn’t matter who you are, they are the rules. Follow the rules – you can come. You don’t follow the rules, you can’t.”
Kanye's vaccination status is unclear, as he said in a 2021 interview that he had received his first dose, after having said a year before that getting vaccinated would be “the mark of the beast”.
Some sources say he changed his mind after he had received his first dose and opted not to get a second one.
"I traveled to Paris a couple weeks ago, and I had to go through Lisbon because you can go through Lisbon without being vaccinated," he told the Drink Champs podcast last year.
"I only got one of the shots, so I'm half-ccinated," he added.
Djokovic deported from Australia
Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia having lost his legal battle over his vaccination status.
He boarded a flight from Melbourne's Tullamarine airport for Dubai late Sunday, accompanied by a retinue of aides and officials.
He boarded a flight that took off at 10:51 PM local time, hours after he had the decision to cancel his visa upheld on public order grounds.
"I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open," he said on the eve of the tournament.
Explosive wave of infections
Australia, one of the countries that are most heavily vaccinated against COVID-19, has been battling an explosive wave of infections in the past month with over 2 million cases recorded.
Until then, the country had just 400,000 cases ever since the pandemic first started.
Yesterday, 97 people died, after Friday’s pandemic record of 98 deaths.
