It seemed pretty unlikely that New York City’s private employer COVID-19 vaccine mandate would be in place for sports teams come early April, when the MLB season opens and the Yankees and Mets would be at risk for having big chunks of their roster unable to play at home. Not only was it bizarre to have a situation where unvaccinated spectators could come to a game where unvaccinated players weren’t permitted to play (and unvaccinated road players could play), but eventually the science – the math on the risks – justifies a change in course toward more normalcy.
Sure enough, there will be an exception made for athletes and entertainers:
Press conference at Citi Field this morning for NYC Mayor Eric Adams to issue an exemption for athletes and entertainers to be exempt from the private sector vaccine mandate, clearing the way for unvaccinated Mets and Yankees to play home games. Kyrie too.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 24, 2022
News at ESPN with @wojespn: There is cautious optimism that the New York City vaccine mandate keeping Kyrie Irving off the court and threatening Opening Day for unvaccinated Yankees and Mets could soon be amended to allow them to play.
Details here: https://t.co/CeycUPeAti
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 23, 2022
Stateside players who have games in Toronto, however, will still be subject to the vaccine mandate to enter into Canada. That means, for example, Yankees players who choose to remain unvaccinated could miss up to 10 games against the Blue Jays this year AND the pay and service time associated with those games.