Former world No. 25 Jeremy Chardy says he has a “series of problems” after taking the COVID-19 vaccine and his 2021 season is over. This summer, 34-year-old Chardy decided to get vaccinated and it didn’t work out well for him.
Chardy has become the latest tennis star to speak out against vaccines after experiencing what he describes as violent, near-paralyzing pains across his body since taking the jab, warning that there is “no hindsight” once people have received the treatment.
The 34-year-old says he his priority is to “take care of myself” after seing two doctors and taking tests in a bid to deduce why he has found physical exertion so difficult since being vaccinated.
“Suddenly I cannot train, I cannot play,” the 2017 Davis Cup winner told AFP, explaining that he received the jab between this summer’s Olympics, when he was beaten by gold medalist Alex Zverev in the quarterfinals, and the US Open, when he lost in straight sets in the first round to Matteo Berrettini at the end of August.
“At the moment, my season is stopped and I don’t know when I’ll start again.
[…] So now I regret having taken the vaccine, but I couldn’t have known. […] It’s the first time that the idea that next season might be my last has crossed my mind,” Chardy added. Last month, world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas expressed reluctance about taking the vaccine.
“The COVID-19 vaccine has not been tested enough because it is new and has some side effects. I know some people who’ve had them. I’m not against it, I just see no reason for someone in my age group to be vaccinated [yet],” Tsitsipas said in August.
“For us young people I think it’s good to pass the virus because we’ll build immunity. I don’t see it as something bad. As I said, it isn’t obligatory, everyone has freedom to decide for themselves what’s right & what’s not.
“At some point we should all do it, I’m not saying the opposite. The time will come when we will not be given many options, but until then I want to see a better version of the vaccine that gives us more pluses than minuses.”
However, Tsitsipas changed his views as a couple of days ago he revealed he’s planning to take the vaccine before the season ends.