As I wrote on Fox Sports New Jersey.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams remains steadfast on his position that athletes who play on the various professional sports teams in New York can not play in town unless they are vaccinated against COVID-19.
For a better part of the past three months since Adams took over the mayoral seat in New York City from Bill DeBlasio, he has been in a battle over the vaccination status of Nets star guard Kyrie Irving. Iriving has refused to get vaccinated against the virus, and as a result has not played in a game in New York this season. Now there is speculation that a number of Yankees and Mets are also un-vaccinated.
To date no player on either baseball team has officially be named as un-vaccinated. Many have jumped to conclusions that players like Aaron Judge are not vaccinated due to his evasive comments on the subject.
“Right now, we’re going to take some complaints,” Adams said during a Tuesday morning news conference, “But when this is all said and done, people are going to realize this is a thoughtful administration and we got it right. So baseball, basketball, businesses, all of those things, they have to wait until that layer comes.”
Adams has been consistent in his assertion that the city will follow the science, and that he won’t change the private employer mandate that requires employees to be vaccinated against the deadly virus.
Yet other aspects of the city, as well as neighboring states are already scaling back their COVID-19 restrictions.
According to ESPN, “When asked if he has felt heat from local sports teams to pull back the mandate, Adams said he doesn’t ‘feel any pressure doing this job at all, because I’m going to do what’s right.'”
“New York City’s infection rate has been climbing again lately, rising 50% over the past week. The city is averaging a little more than 950 new cases per day, comparable to the daily average in early November before the start of the omicron wave.”
That means there is a good chance the Yankees, who open the season at Yankees Stadium on April 7, and the Mets, whose home opener is April 15, may be without a number of players on the field because of their vaccination status.
Of course Adams’ decision has exasperated fans, who just want a return to normalcy — especially when it comes to baseball. Many fans have blasted the mayor on Twitter. Even political candidates for New York Governor are jumping in to the fray.
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