Alexandre Pato goes back after criticizing Covid vaccine in support of Djokovic

Striker Alexandre Pato, currently at Orlando City (USA), released a retraction after viralizing a post of his on social media in which he expressed support for tennis player Novak Djokovic, banned from the Australian Open for refusing to take the vaccine against Covid-19. 19 — the Serb was deported from Australia on Sunday (16).

In the publication, the 32-year-old player, with a passage through Corinthians and São Paulo, called the immunizer an “experimental sting” and made a xenophobic comment when referring to the new coronavirus as “Chinese plague”.

Pato referred to Djokovic as a “sports legend” and a hero to be followed in the “resistance movement against totalitarianism”, as well as citing the Serb’s social actions.

After the negative repercussion of the post made on Instagram, the Brazilian athlete used the same social network to publicize his retraction.

“I want to make clear the importance of all human beings getting vaccinated! I took my doses at the exact moment I was released to do so! And I think it’s important that everyone has this awareness”, read an excerpt from the statement. “In the post, I wanted to value Djokovic’s humanitarian achievements […] When I noticed placements in the text that didn’t match my way of thinking, then I deleted it.”

According to the athlete’s staff, the text supporting the Serbian was not his. Despite publicizing the post with an anti-vaccination speech, Pato was immunized against Covid-19 in the US on April 5, four months before Brazilians in the same age group as the athlete were able to get vaccinated in Brazil.

According to the consortium of press vehicles, of which leaf is part, 147,308,222 people (68.57% of the Brazilian population) took two doses or a single dose of vaccines approved by Anvisa (Health Surveillance Agency) until Monday (17).

The total number of people who are partially immunized (ie, who have received at least one dose) is 162,210,686 (75.51% of the population).

See the full retraction of Alexandre Pato

Hey guys. I want to make clear the importance of all human beings getting vaccinated! I took my doses at the exact moment I was released to do so, and I think it’s important that everyone has this awareness of protecting themselves and protecting those who are by their side.

In the post, I wanted to value Djokovic’s humanitarian achievements and also all his sporting achievements. When I realized that the text’s placements don’t match my way of thinking, then I deleted it.

I apologize, as these are not words that govern my life and way of thinking. And I reiterate: we all have to vaccinate ourselves! Vaccine saves lives. I’m fully vaccinated and I hope we can get out of this as soon as possible.