Mayor: NYC plans to phase out vaccine mandates
New York City will begin winding down its local vaccine mandates in the weeks ahead, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday.
When asked whether New York planned to follow cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. by phasing out vaccine passports, Adams replied that he couldn't "wait to get it done."
Quite significant from @NYCMayor discussing for the first time his desire to (eventually) remove vaccine mandates.
— The Glue Guys (@BKGlueGuys) February 23, 2022
Says much more information to come in the next few days pic.twitter.com/h7FRXjZnS0
Adams continued: "Every morning, I meet with my health professionals because I always state that I'm going to follow the science, I'm not going to get ahead of the science. ... They're giving us clear structures, they gave us benchmarks. We're going to follow those benchmarks."
Current rules restrict New York City-based athletes who are unvaccinated from participating in home games. The same standard isn't enforced with visiting unvaccinated players from teams based outside of New York City.
Most notably, the rules have impacted the availability of star Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, who has made just 14 appearances this season - all on the road. The Nets, currently sputtering at eighth in the Eastern Conference, only have 13 home games remaining.
In the lead-up to the 2021-22 season, 95% of NBA players had received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.