New York City to let unvaccinated athletes play home games

Updated Mar. 23, 2022 10:20 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City's mayor will announce Thursday that he’s exempting athletes and performers from the city’s vaccine mandate for private workers, a move that will allow Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play home games and unvaccinated baseball players to take the field when their season begins.

Mayor Eric Adams will make the announcement Thursday morning and it will be effective immediately, according to a person familiar with the upcoming announcement who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The city’s sweeping vaccine mandate for workers will still apply to people with other types of jobs, including government employees.

Adams had said he felt the vaccine rule was unfair when it came to athletes and performers because a loophole in the measure, imposed under his predecessor, allowed visiting players and performers who don’t work in New York to still play or perform even if they are unvaccinated.

Irving, a vaccine holdout, had been among the most high-profile people impacted. He was able to

This month, concerns had been raised that the rule would also impact Major League Baseball.

Yankees star Aaron Judge

When asked Wednesday about a possible vaccine exemption, Judge said he was "happy Kyrie can play some home games.”

“If the mandate is not there, it’s good for Kyrie,” Judge told The Associated Press during spring training in Tampa, Florida, adding he “wasn't too worried” about the mandate's effect on the Yankees.

The Yankees, who open their season at home against the Boston Red Sox on April 7, said earlier this month that the team president was “working with city hall and all other appropriate officials on this matter.” The Yankees declined comment Wednesday.

Adams, a Mets fan, is scheduled to make an “economic and health-related announcement” Thursday morning at Citi Field, where the Mets play, according to his official calendar that was released Wednesday night.

Adams has been rolling back vaccine mandates and other coronavirus restrictions, including on Tuesday when he said

Mask mandates for older children have already been removed, as well as rules

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made vaccination mandatory as a workplace safety rule last year, before leaving office.

All employers are supposed to bar unvaccinated workers from being in shared workplaces.

The city suspended numerous public employees for refusing to get vaccinated, including public servants like firefighters and sanitation workers.

The creation of special exemptions for athletes or entertainers could potentially lead to court challenges arguing the city isn't applying the law evenly. ___

AP Sports Writer Ron Blum in New York and AP freelancer Mark Didtler in Tampa, Florida contributed to this report.

share

in this topic

Kyrie Irving

Aaron Judge

New York Mets

New York Yankees

Brooklyn Nets