Raphael Stevens

GM plans to build two models of its new Chevrolet Silverado EV: a basic work truck and a fully loaded luxury model when it launches the electric pickup next year.
The work truck will sell in the spring of 2023, followed by a fully loaded $105,000 RST limited first edition model next fall. GM said the work truck will start at $39,900.
The price of the 2024 Silverado EV WT is in line with the upcoming electric work version of Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup, which is expected to arrive this spring starting at $39,974.

General Motors plans to build a work truck version of its new electric Chevrolet Silverado for commercial customers and a fully loaded luxury model that will retail for more than $100,000 when it launches the new pickup next year.
The Detroit automaker on Wednesday said a WT, or Work Truck, will be the first truck offered to fleet buyers in spring 2023, followed by a fully loaded $105,000 RST limited first edition model for consumers next fall. GM said the work truck will start at $39,900.

“It will offer a revolutionary mix of capability, performance, safety, flexibility and design that catapults this electric truck for both fleet and retail customers into a category of its own,” GM CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday when unveiling the Silverado EV during a virtual keynote for the CES technology show.
Both segments are crucial customers in GM’s plans to ramp up sales and remain profitable while it fully transitions to EVs by 2035.

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST

“As we wind the calendar forward, trucks will continue to be a franchise player and that means all of the volume and share and profitability,” GM North America President Steve Carlisle told CNBC. “The goal is to grow the company as we go through this transition; not to keep it flat or shrink it, so trucks need to play an outsized role in all of that.”
Highlights of the Silverado EV RST include up to 664 horsepower and more than 780-pound feet of torque as well as an estimated 0-60 mph time of less than 4.5 seconds, according to GM. It also will feature hands-free highway driving, four-wheel steering and 24-inch wheels.
Both initial versions of the Silverado EV also will have a full range of more than 400 miles and be able to charge 100 miles in roughly 10 minutes with a DC fast charger, the company said.

Chevy vs. Ford

The price of the 2024 Silverado EV WT is in line with the upcoming base model of Ford Motor’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup, which is expected to arrive this spring starting at $39,974.

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST

The top-end pricing of the Silverado EV is about $14,000 more than the F-150 Lightning. The pricing difference is likely due to additional features as well as Ford’s manufacturing platform. The electric F-150 shares many of the same components with the traditional version of the pickup that Ford sells hundreds of thousands of each year.
That compares with the electric Silverado that’s on a new platform shared with the recently launched GMC Hummer EV pickup.  
“Obviously, Hummer is a big step, but Silverado is a step into the mainstream trucks,” Carlisle said.
The $105,000 Silverado EV RST launch edition also is slightly more expensive than Rivian Automotive’s fully loaded R1T, a smaller electric pickup that went on sale late last year that starts at $67,500 but can top $100,000.

Other versions coming

GM will offer other versions of the Silverado EV after the initial launch in 2023, according to Steve Majoros, Chevrolet vice president of marketing. He described the production, timing and volumes for the Silverado EV as a “Rubik’s cube” that GM is still determining.
Barra previewed an upcoming off-road version of the electric pickup during her remarks for CES. She also confirmed EV versions of the Chevrolet Equinox and Chevrolet Blazer in 2023. The electric Equinox will start around $30,000, she said.
GM has promised investors that its transition to an all-electric automaker by 2035 will be profitable.
“That’s certainly the goal that guides all this,” Carlisle said.
The role of fleet sales is viewed as important for EVs, specifically pickups — because of emerging data analytics and logistical tools automakers are eyeing as opportunities for recurring revenue with fleet customers.

Luxury pickups also have increasingly become important for automakers such as GM and Ford, leading to record pricing and profits. GM has led U.S. sales of pickup trucks for the last eight years.
“It’s a franchise for us today and it’s a big deal in the industry,” Carlisle said. “So we’re not intending to cede any ground on that as all of this unfolds.”

Silverado EV

While the 2024 Silverado EV shares its name with Chevrolet’s traditional pickup, it physically has more in common with the GMC Hummer EV.
Most notably, both pickups feature GM’s new Ultium EV platform and batteries. They also include new technologies and notable performance metrics as well as large screens on the interior of the vehicles and sleek new exterior designs with differing LED lightbars.
The Silverado EV RST also shares a unique feature called a midgate with the once-popular Chevrolet Avalanche, a pickup GM produced for more than a decade beginning in 2001. The vehicle’s rear seats can fold down and the rear glass above them can be taken out and stored in the seats. The feature significantly increases the size of the vehicle’s bed from 5 feet and 11 inches to nearly 11 feet.
“We had a lot of satisfied customers with Avalanche,” said Ryan Vaughan, Chevrolet design director for the Silverado EV. “Having said that, this is not the new Avalanche.”
Chevrolet officials promise that despite the new looks of the Silverado EV, it will deliver everything traditional buyers of the truck have come to expect.
“It’s called Silverado for a reason,” Majoros said. “It’s a great, powerful brand.”
The work truck version of the Silverado EV will offer 510 horsepower and 615-pound feet of torque, according to GM. Both are higher than current Chevrolet Silverado 1500 models but the towing and payload ratings on the EV version will initially be lower than many models.
The $105,000 Silverado EV RST became available for customers to reserve on Chevrolet’s website Wednesday. The WT pickup will initially go to predetermined fleet customers.

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Omicron could inspire more people to buy goods rather than services, which would compound inflation as demand remains high and supply chain challenges continue, National Retail Federation’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz, said.
The latest Covid wave is unlikely to prompt an economic slowdown or a shutdown of businesses, however, the advisor to the retail trade group said.
Some restaurants and retailers have had to shutter locations or reduce hours as they cope with short staffing due to Covid or step up sanitizing in coronavirus hotspots.

damircudic | E+ | Getty Images

The spread of the highly infectious omicron variant is likely to fuel more inflation, as Americans keep shopping instead of spending more outside of the home, according to the National Retail Federation’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz.
The major retail trade group’s advisor said Wednesday in a news release, however, that he does not expect the latest wave of Covid cases to prompt an economic slowdown or a shutdown of businesses.

“Little is certain about omicron’s impact on consumer demand, but people who stay at home because of the variant are more likely to spend their money on retail goods rather than services like dining out or in-person entertainment,” he said in the news release. “That would put further pressure on inflation since supply chains are already overloaded across the globe.”
Kleinhenz said that “each successive variant has slowed down the economy but that the degree of slowdown has been less.” And, he added, consumers may have more confidence to spend because of being fully vaccinated or hearing about milder cases from the variant.
Covid cases in the U.S. hit a pandemic record of more than 1 million new infections on Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The country is now reporting a seven-day average of more than 553,000 daily new infections, more than double the week prior, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins data through Tuesday.
The spike in coronavirus cases has prompted retailers and restaurants including Starbucks, Apple, Nike and Gap-owned Athleta to shut stores or shorten hours, as they cope with short staffing or step up sanitizing. Walmart temporarily shut nearly 60 U.S. stores in coronavirus hotspots last month to sanitize them. Macy’s said Tuesday that it is reducing store hours for the rest of the month.
However, many of those same stores have made it easier for customers to shop in other ways — from home delivery to curbside pickup.

CNBC Health & Science

The National Retail Federation does not expect the pandemic to hurt holiday sales either. It predicted that sales in November and December would rise between 8.5% and 10.5% compared with a year ago and reach an all-time record total of between $843.4 billion and $859 billion of sales.
Kleinhenz later boosted that forecast, saying in early December that holiday sales could rise by as much as 11.5% compared with the year-ago period.
The trade group expects to report the official holiday sales total next week, after the Census Bureau shares December retail sales data.

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The game’s jackpot was revised upward on Wednesday to $630 million from $610 million due to strong ticket sales.
The amount is Powerball’s seventh-largest jackpot ever.
Here are some key considerations if you beat the odds and win the top prize.

Warren-Pender | iStock Editorial | Getty Images

Yes, you have another chance to win a ton of money in Powerball.
No, you probably won’t win.

The jackpot jumped to $630 million from $610 million ahead of Wednesday night’s drawing due to strong ticket sales. The amount — which has been growing for three months — marks the seventh-largest jackpot in the game’s history.
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While the chance of a single ticket matching all six numbers in any given Powerball drawing is miniscule — 1 in 292 million — it’s still worth considering what you would do if you found yourself holding the winning ticket.
For starters, remember that lottery tickets are considered “bearer instruments,” meaning whoever holds it is considered the owner. This means you need to earnestly protect it.
Take a picture of yourself with the winning ticket, said certified financial planner Joe Buhrmann, senior financial planning consultant at eMoney Advisor. Also put the ticket somewhere safe — such as in a safety deposit box — until it’s time to claim your windfall.

Additionally, you may want to sign the back of the ticket. Just be aware that in some states, doing so could interfere with your ability to claim the prize via a trust or other legal entity that would shield your identity from the public.
It’s also worth sharing the exciting news with as few people as possible. If you won’t be able to remain anonymous — it depends on state laws — you need to consider how to avoid becoming a target for scammers as well as long-lost family and friends.
“You may have been friendless and unknown to passers-by on the streets,” Buhrmann said. “That will all change when you’re announced as the winner.” 

You also should turn to experienced professionals to help guide you through the claiming process and the many facets of protecting your windfall. Your team should include an attorney, financial advisor, tax advisor and insurance professional. 
This group can help you determine whether to take your winnings as a lump sum or as 30 payments spread over 29 years. Most lottery winners choose the immediate, reduced cash amount. For Powerball’s $630 million jackpot, the cash option is $448.4 million.
Either way, the money would face a 24% federal tax withholding before it reaches you. For this jackpot, taking the cash would mean about $107.6 million getting shaved off the top, leaving you with a cool $340.8 million. Depending where you won the jackpot, there also may be state taxes withheld.

Additional federal income taxes would likely also be due at tax time, given the top rate of 36%. There also may be more due in state taxes, depending on the jurisdiction’s rate of withholding.
It’s also worth giving some thought to how your life is going to change — not just from a financial aspect.
“Consider how this newfound wealth will change your marriage, family, and dynamics with friends and neighbors,” Buhrmann said.
You may even want to seek guidance from a financial therapist or mental health professional to help you deal with the stress that comes with winning, he said.
Meanwhile, the Mega Millions jackpot is $278 million for Friday night’s drawing. The cash option is $193 million. As with Powerball, the chance of a single ticket winning the top prize is tiny: 1 in 302 million.

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Rapid at-home Covid-19 tests are hard to come by in omicron hot spots like New York City, with pharmacists selling out shipments before they arrive.
President Joe Biden promised to make available 500 million at-home tests for free beginning this month.
Companies that sell tests say material shortages and logistics are contributing to the supply crunch.

A sign at a CVS store in Brooklyn notifying shoppers there are no more at home Covid-19 tests available on Dec. 21st, 2021.
Leslie Josephs | CNBC

George Panagiotopoulos has been struggling to keep at-home Covid-19 tests in stock at Broadway Chemists pharmacy in New York City as coronavirus cases surge to new highs.
A shipment of 200 tests received the Saturday before Christmas sold out “within a couple of hours,” he said.

Panagiotopoulos, who owns the pharmacy, had a list of 110 people waiting for him to restock at-home tests the Tuesday before Christmas. That shipment of 150 kits arrived two days late and sold out within 48 hours, he said. Broadway Chemists received another shipment of 150 tests on Dec. 30, but most of them were gone in a day.
As of Friday afternoon, the pharmacy had just 20 to 30 tests left in stock. Panagiotopoulos expects demand to remain high with the return to school after the holidays as parents seek to test their kids.
His experience is playing out in Covid hotspots across the country as infections reached all-time highs, driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.

‘Tsunami of demand’

Bidding war

Abbott, which received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its BinaxNOW home test in March, is experiencing “unprecedented demand,” said spokesman John Koval.
“We’re sending them out as fast as we can make them,” he said. “This includes running our U.S. manufacturing facilities 24/7, hiring more workers and investing in automation,” he said.
Shaz Amin, the founder of a company that sells at-home tests online, said the surge in demand has allowed distributors to hike prices as buyers like his company, WellBefore, are facing a bidding war to secure limited supply.
“Whatever we were paying for test kits a week ago, we’re paying 25% higher today,” said Amin. “Someone is in line behind us saying, ‘I’ll give you 25 cents more to take what WellBefore’s allocation is.’ ”
Amin said the shortage means that Covid test kits are sold before they arrive.

Payment upfront

Ryen Neuman, vice president of logistics at Sunline Supply and Arnold’s Office Furniture, a company that turned to supplying personal protective equipment and test kits for clients during the pandemic, said they normally pay a 10% deposit on an order for health and safety products and then the rest when it arrives.
But for Covid test kits, they “have to pay 100% of the product prior to even seeing it, looking at it, smelling it, anything,” because tests are in such high demand, Neuman said, noting that he thinks the market for the kits will be “tight” for at least six months.
“It just seems as though the production is not able to ramp up to what the American population needs right now,” he said.
Several wholesale buyers said they are trying to stock some of the lesser-known brands that have been approved for sale by the FDA and work similarly to Abbott’s BinaxNOW and Quidel’s QuickVue. Neuman, for example, said some distributors of the more popular tests are overcharging, making the lesser-known brands more appealing.

Shortage of raw materials

Matt Regan, president and CEO of medical goods distributor Code 1 Supply, said Thursday that the supply of kit components dried up over the previous seven to 10 days. Regan said business partners have told him there’s a shortage of raw materials, and that distributors are prioritizing orders from federal agencies over other buyers.
Three other companies that sell Covid at-home tests that spoke with CNBC, including iPromo, Sunline Supply and nonprofit Project N95, said they were similarly told the Biden administration’s new plan to supply 500 million at-home tests to the public was delaying their own shipments. But the White House said its plans should not hamper existing agreements between private parties.
“Because we have this additional capacity, we can make this purchase without disruption to supply to existing manufacturers’ commitments to states or organizations,” a White House official said in a statement to CNBC.
Quickly ramping up test manufacturing, however, is difficult, said Steven Tang, CEO of rapid test manufacturer OraSure Technologies. There’s a shortage of several components, he said, and staffing up to add more shifts to churn out more tests is a challenge with such fluctuating demand.
“Way back in May and June, when we thought that vaccines were going to take care of everything, people began to decrease the amount of supply and decrease the amount of labor and shifts,” Tang said.
Then demand for testing started to rise again heading into the fall, he said. “Businesses, particularly ones that are scaling up, thrive when there is consistency of demand and predictability. We are not in a consistent predictable situation right now.”

Production ramps up

To be sure, test kit manufacturers are ramping up production, and new companies are awaiting approval from the FDA to start selling their tests. So some wholesalers are hopeful the coveted at-home tests should be more readily available in the coming months.
Amin, of WellBefore, said the nation will be in a “better place” on testing by the second quarter, if not sooner depending on when the FDA authorizes more tests.
Anne Miller, executive director of nonprofit Project N95, thinks the testing crunch will begin to ease by the middle of the month.
Meanwhile, one of the nation’s largest test makers, Abbott, is ramping up supply. It’s targeting 70 million BinaxNOW rapid tests in January, up from 50 million in December, spokesman Koval said, adding the company can also “scale significantly further in the months ahead.”
-CNBC’s Sevanny Campos contributed to this report.
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
WATCH: Biden administration to distribute 500 million free at-home Covid tests

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Walmart and FedEx plan to add thousands of electric delivery vans produced by GM to their massive vehicle fleets in the coming years.
Walmart has signed a new agreement with the Detroit automaker to reserve 5,000 BrightDrop vans, while FedEx is building on an initial order of 500 vehicles.
The increase in reservations comes as GM and others are rushing to launch new electric vehicles for fleet customers that offer last-mile deliveries.

Walmart signed an agreement to reserve 5,000 of BrightDrop’s EV600 and smaller EV410 electric delivery vans to support the retail giant’s last mile delivery network and goal of operating a zero-emissions logistics fleet by 2040.

Walmart and FedEx plan to add thousands of electric delivery vans produced by General Motors to their massive vehicle fleets in the coming years, the companies announced Wednesday.
Walmart has signed a new agreement with the Detroit automaker to reserve 5,000 BrightDrop vans, while FedEx – BrightDrop’s first customer – is building on an initial order of 500 vehicles that GM began delivering last month.

FedEx on Wednesday said it has agreed to a deal for 2,000 more vehicles over the next several years. That order could potentially increase to 20,000 electric vans, according Richard Smith, FedEx regional president of the Americas.
“BrightDrop’s real. They’re here now. Their trucks are on the road in California for us delivering packages,” Smith said during a media briefing with executives from BrightDrop and FedEx. “They have a vehicle that works as advertised, and we love it. We want to buy a lot more of them.”

BrightDrop, a GM subsidiary, now has 25,000 confirmed reservations for its vans, BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz told CNBC. He said GM expects to complete FedEx’s initial order of 500 vans this year, followed by deliveries for Walmart beginning in 2023.
“So part of what is exciting about the conversations we’re having with them is we’re both really looking at this market through the lens of technology. How do you use technology to rethink operations and to drive more efficiency?” Katz told CNBC.
The increase in reservations comes as GM and others are rushing to launch new electric vehicles for corporate customers like Walmart, FedEx and Amazon that deliver directly to consumers.

Amazon has a deal with EV start-up Rivian Automotive to produce 100,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2030, with 10,000 of them coming by the end of this year. The retail giant has a 20% stake in Rivian.
U.K.-based start-up Arrival has a deal in place to deliver 10,000 EVs to UPS by 2024. Oshkosh will build 165,000 EVs for the U.S. Postal Service over the next decade.

A rendering of GM’s BrightDrop EV410, an electric midsize commercial van that’s planned for 2023.

GM, Walmart and FedEx declined to disclose any financial details about the deals, which were announced Wednesday as GM CEO Mary Barra delivered a keynote address at the CES technology show.
“This is really a momentum story,” Katz said. “What I can tell you is demand for these vehicles is through the roof. We’re seeing tons of customer interest.”
For FedEx and Walmart, the purchases from BrightDrop are a combination of savings and sustainability. BrightDrop says the cost to charge its EVs is approximately 75% less than to fuel a similar gas-powered vehicle. Both FedEx and Walmart have announced goals to have a zero-emissions delivery fleets by 2040.
Barra announced GM’s BrightDrop business at last year’s CES, including the first customer for its large EV600 delivery van being FedEx. It plans to begin producing a smaller electric van called the EV410 in late 2023, according to Katz.
Walmart plans to use BrightDrop’s electric vans as part of an expansion of its InHome delivery service. The company earlier Wednesday announced plans to grow its service area from 6 million U.S. households to 30 million by the end of this year.
BrightDrop is part of GM’s plans to grow new businesses from about $2 billion today to $80 billion by 2030.

FedEx received its first five of an order of 500 electric Light Commercial Vehicles (eLCVs) from BrightDrop.

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Ford Motor’s 2021 sales fell 6.8% from the year-earlier period, but ends with strong fourth quarter.
Inventory jumped in December to 247,000 vehicles, up 22,000 from November, a turnaround from earlier in the year caused by the semiconductor chip shortage.
The Detroit automaker had a banner fourth quarter, selling 508,451 vehicles, a 27% increase over the previous quarter.

Ford vehicles are seen on the sales lot at the Helfman Ford dealership on October 28, 2021 in Houston, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

DETROIT – Ford Motor’s sales last year declined 6.8% compared to 2020, but the automaker said it made strides toward the end of the year in overcoming disruptions caused by an ongoing semiconductor chip shortage.
The Detroit automaker on Wednesday said it sold 508,451 vehicles in the fourth quarter, a 27% increase over the previous quarter — far better than the industry’s decline of about 3% during that period.

Inventory jumped in December to 247,000 vehicles, up 22,000 from November, a turnaround from earlier in the year caused by the chip shortage.

‘Turbulent and dynamic’ year

Andrew Frick, vice president of Ford sales in the U.S. and Canada, described 2021 as “turbulent and dynamic” during a call with reporters. He said the company was “pleased” with Ford’s finish for the year.
Overall, the U.S. automotive industry sold 15.1 million vehicles in 2021 despite major supply chain disruptions and the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to industry tracker Autodata. It was the weakest sales year since 2012.
Ford sold 1.9 million vehicles, down 6.8% from 2020. That maintained its third-place U.S. sales position behind General Motors and Toyota Motor, which dethroned GM in U.S. sales after a 90-year run as the No. 1 American automaker.

EV sales progress

Ford also beat out GM to become the country’s second best-selling automaker of all-electric vehicles behind Tesla.

Ford sold 27,140 of its Mustang Mach-E EVs, eclipsing the 24,828 sales total of GM’s Chevrolet Bolt EV models and one Hummer EV in 2021. Both are minuscule compared with Tesla, which doesn’t report U.S. sales, but said it delivered a record 936,172 EVs globally last year.

GM also had to largely stop producing Bolt EVs due to a recall of the vehicle’s batteries that could cause a fire. Nevertheless, Ford’s Frick said the automaker is determined to outsell GM in EVs in 2022.
“That’s our aspiration to become the clear No. 2 electric vehicle maker in the next couple years,” he said, citing increased production of the Mustang Mach-E and the launch of electric versions of the F-150 pickup and Transit van. “That obviously just puts us in a much better position” to do so.

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Having landed in Melbourne, the 20-time grand slam winner was reportedly attempting to enter the country on a visa that does not permit medical exemptions for being unvaccinated, and when Border Force contacted government officials in Victoria to sponsor the visa, they refused to do so.
The Serbian arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday evening local time, but faced trouble at the border, with Acting Sports Minister Jaala Pulford confirming that the state government was not supporting his visa application to compete in the Australian Open.
On Tuesday, the 34-year-old revealed he had an “exemption permission” to travel and play at the Australian Open without a Covid-19 vaccination.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic applauds the crowd after losing to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev during their 2021 US Open Tennis tournament men’s final match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, on September 12, 2021.
Kena Betancur | AFP | Getty Images

Novak Djokovic’s entry into Australia on a vaccine exemption has been delayed due to issues with the visa he and his team submitted.
Having landed in Melbourne, the 20-time grand slam winner was reportedly attempting to enter the country on a visa that does not permit medical exemptions for being unvaccinated, and when Border Force contacted government officials in Victoria to sponsor the visa, they refused to do so.

The Serbian arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday evening local time, but faced trouble at the border, with Acting Sports Minister Jaala Pulford confirming that the state government was not supporting his visa application to compete in the Australian Open.
She tweeted: “The Federal Government has asked if we will support Novak Djokovic’s visa application to enter Australia.
“We will not be providing Novak Djokovic with individual visa application support to participate in the 2022 Australian Open Grand Slam.
“We’ve always been clear on two points: visa approvals are a matter for the Federal Government, and medical exemptions are a matter for doctors.”

On Tuesday, the 34-year-old Serb revealed he had an “exemption permission” to travel and play at the Australian Open without a Covid-19 vaccination.

Djokovic has never revealed whether he is vaccinated against Covid-19, but has criticised mandates ruling that players must be double-jabbed.
The response to Tuesday’s exemption confirmation was heavily negative, both in Australia and around the world, and eventually saw Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirm that Djokovic would be “on the next plane home” if his evidence for a Covid-19 vaccination exemption to play at the Australian Open is not satisfactory.
“There should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic at all, none whatsoever,” PM Morrison said.
“He has to because if he’s not vaccinated, he must provide acceptable proof that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and to be able to access the same travel arrangements, as fully vaccinated travellers.”
Rules in Victoria, where the Australian Open will begin on January 17, stated that players must be double-vaccinated against Covid-19.
Tournament director Craig Tiley said earlier it would be “helpful” for Djokovic to clarify his situation on what exempts him from vaccination.
“We completely understand and empathise that some would have been upset by the fact that Novak Djokovic has come in because of his statements around vaccination in the past couple of years,” Tiley told reporters.
“We would love…Novak to talk about it and help us with it, but ultimately it’s going to be up to him.
“We aren’t in a position, even legally, to disclose other people’s medical information.”
Meanwhile, PM Morrison’s comments were echoed by a statement from Australia’s minister for home affairs Karen Andrews.
“Australian Border Force will continue to ensure that those who arrive at our border comply with our strict border requirements,” her statement read.
“No individual competing at the Australian Open will be afforded any special treatment.”
Tiley has revealed 26 unvaccinated players applied for exemption, with Djokovic among only a “handful” given the green light under guidelines set by federal regulators.
Criteria listed by the Australian Technical Advisory Group as permissible reasons for a medical exemption range from acute major medical conditions to any serious adverse event attributed to a previous dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
A possible explanation is that Djokovic has contracted coronavirus for a second time at some point in the past six months, having previously caught it during his much-criticised Adria Tour event in Belgrade in 2020.
That would negate the need for vaccination, according to rules published last year by one of two independent medical panels involved in the decision.
The build-up to the season’s first grand slam has been dominated by whether Djokovic would be involved.
Speculation was heightened after he pulled out of the Serbia team competing at the ATP Cup in Sydney without explanation.
The tournament provides Djokovic with another chance to move clear of rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, with the three having each won 20 grand slam titles.
He was challenging for the calendar year grand slam in 2021 but fell short in the US Open final by losing to Daniil Medvedev, the man he beat in last year’s Australian Open final.

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