Italian tennis player Camila Giorgi says she received a COVID-19 vaccine from an Italian doctor who has reportedly admitted to falsifying vaccine certificates.
But the star said that she subsequently received the jab from other doctors before she travelled to Australia for last year’s Australian Open and was properly vaccinated against the virus when she played here.
Camila Giorgi has denied any wrongdoing in a dodgy vaccination scandal being investigated by Italian police.Credit:Vince Caligiuri
There were vaccine requirements in place for the 2022 Open.
Dr Daniela Grillone, a Vicenza-based family physician, is being investigated by Italian police in relation to allegations that she provided mock COVID-19 injections and fraudulent vaccination certificates to patients who didn’t want the jab but were required to have it for work or travel.
A local newspaper, Corriere del Veneto, this month quoted Grillone naming Giorgi as one of her patients. She reportedly told the newspaper she had treated Giorgi for a long time for tennis elbow and prior to the Australian Open, facilitated a request by her to provide phony COVID-19 papers.
“Shortly before the beginning of summer, she had come asking for the possibility of obtaining false proof of all the mandatory vaccines, as well as the COVID vaccine,” the doctor reportedly said.
Camila Giorgi addressed the allegations against her after a comfortable first-round win at Melbourne Park. Credit:Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
“I can confirm with absolute certainty that none of the vaccines against the Giorgi family have actually been administered.”
Giorgi, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 6-1 in the Australian Open’s first round on Tuesday, denied she asked for fake documentation and insisted she had done nothing wrong.
“I am fine. She [Grillone] is the one in trouble with the law in Italy.”
However, her admission that she relied on documentation provided by Grillone to play in the same tournament that Novak Djokovic was ejected from because of his vaccination status, will increase pressure on Tennis Australia and Australia’s Department of Home Affairs to review her case.
Novak Djokovic was detained and deported after arriving unvaccinated for the 2022 Australian Open. Credit:AP
Djokovic was deported after the then federal minister for immigration, Alex Hawke, determined his presence here could inflame anti-vax sentiment and put public health at risk.
The Department of Home Affairs has declined to comment on Giorgi’s case, citing privacy constraints. Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley has said the allegations are a matter for the women’s tour and Italian authorities to determine.
