Unvaccinated Yankees, Mets players can now play home games; NYC mayor reverses vaccine mandate
NYC mayor announced Thursday that the vaccine mandate for professional athletes in the city has been lifted, allowing Yankees and Mets to play home games
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams reversed a city policy that had demanded all professional athletes and performers in New York to be fully vaccinated against covid-19.
The reversal now allows unvaccinated New York Yankees, as well as Mets, to play home games in the upcoming 2022 season.
In a tense press conference, Adams referred to himself as a “war-time general” who leads from the front. "I was not elected to be fearful, but to be fearless," he said.
Adams, who previously stressed on the importance of athletes not getting special treatment, made the announcement at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets baseball team.
"Unimaginable, we were treating our performers differently because they lived and played for home teams. It's not acceptable. This exemption has put our sports teams at a self-imposed disadvantage, but this new order will help boost our economy," added Adams.
Kyrie Irving to play vs Hornets
Following Thursday’s announcement, Yankees Kyrie Irving, and other unvaccinated Yankees and Mets players who were not allowed to play at home this season, are all eligible to play home games, two weeks before Baseball Opening Day on April 7.
Related: Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving was ineligible to play home games until today.
As part of the new CBA, or collective bargaining agreement, MLB and the MLBPA agreed that unvaccinated players who were ineligible to play can be placed on the restricted list, without getting paid.