The contentious questions that swirled around the vaccine mandates of 2021 have merited fresh scrutiny following a journalist’s shocking death at the Australian Open last week.
The journalist in question was Mike Dickson, a veteran tennis reporter for the U.K. Daily Mail. According to People magazine, Dickson had been a sports reporter for 38 years and would have celebrated his 60th birthday this month.
The U.K. Daily Mail noted his passing with an article headlined “Goodbye Mr Wimbledon: Legendary Mail Sport tennis correspondent Mike Dickson dies aged 59.” The report did not include a cause of death.
As reported in the U.K. Telegraph, Dickson’s family shared a (now private) statement on X, saying, “We are devastated to announce that our wonderful husband and Dad, Mike, has collapsed and died while in Melbourne for the Aus Open. For 38 years he lived his dream covering sport all over the world. He was a truly great man and we will miss him terribly. Lucy, Sam, Ruby and Joe.”
However, in addition to the outpouring of condolences and tributes everywhere from the U.S. Open Tennis to the organizers of Wimbledon to journalist Piers Morgan, some observers couldn’t help but detect some irony in the circumstances surrounding Dickson’s death.
We are incredibly saddened to learn of Mike’s passing. Mike was one of the most well-respected journalists in the industry, and our media center won’t be the same without him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues.
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) January 17, 2024
All of us at Wimbledon are deeply saddened to hear this news. Mike covered so many of our Championships during his remarkable career in journalism and brought so many stories to so many sports fans around the world. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) January 17, 2024
So sorry to hear this. Mike was a terrific journalist. RIP.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 17, 2024
Back in 2022, Dickson covered the issue of tennis legend Novak Djokovic’s refusal to submit to the Australian Open’s Covid vaccine mandate.
As reported the Australian news site news.com.au, Dickson mocked Djokovic for his refusal to get the coronavirus vaccine, saying “He (Djokovic) says he wants more information, but how much more does he need? More than 10 billion doses have been administered worldwide, and there is now a wealth of evidence out there.”
Dickson then doubled down on his criticism of Djokovic, continuing, “There is the attempt in his interview with the BBC to distance himself from the anti-vax movement, yet Djokovic must have known that through his stance he would end up as one of its poster boys.”
Now, after his death, Dickson is catching some public flack of his own.
For instance, one commenter wrote, “the journalist who bullied Novak Djokovic for two years because he didn’t want to participate in the human experiment has now ‘suddenly and unexpectedly passed away’. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if he were unvaccinated,” while journalist Erin Elizabeth said, “Journalist who tried to cancel Novak over not taking the Covid shots, collapses and dies suddenly. He was fully vaccinated.”
Journalist who tried to cancel Novak over not taking the Covid shots, collapses and dies suddenly. He was fully vaccinated.
Novak is a class act and posted on X that he hopes Mike Dickson will RIP.
Dickson wrote terrible articles about Novak for not getting the shots. #RIP… pic.twitter.com/IjsYIqYwvA
— Erin Elizabeth Health Nut News 🙌 (@unhealthytruth) January 20, 2024
What irony: the journalist who bullied Novak Djokovic for two years because he didn’t want to participate in the human experiment has now ‘suddenly and unexpectedly passed away’. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if he were unvaccinated. https://t.co/11qY8qiQF3 pic.twitter.com/6qsbl4TZbH
— Dr. Simon Goddek (@goddeketal) January 21, 2024
Djokovic, to his credit, was a class act, choosing not to address Dickson’s criticisms at all.
He shared his condolences on X after he learned about the news, harboring no resentment towards the man who, for a time, could seem to focus on nothing besides Djokovic’s vaccination status.
Condolences to Mike Dickson family 🙏 Rest in Peace https://t.co/skSMgwvBcZ
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) January 18, 2024
Still, Djokovic was one of the many victims of the hatred and prejudice heaped upon those who opted not to get the COVID vaccines, and Dickson was one of the most vocal in deriding Djokovic’s choice not to take the shot.
Will you ever get a COVID vaccination?
Our elites touted this experimental shot as 100 percent effective, which we know is not true, with vaccinated folks still getting COVID in 2024. Turns out, the shot was nowhere near 100 percent effective and might bring some devastating side effects with it.
But because of that, too many people were treated like Dickson treated Djokovic, denied employment opportunities or even essential medical care for having reasonable hesitations about the vaccine.
Again, no one knows the cause of Dickson’s death, and we may never know. But isn’t it grimly ironic?
