Kevin says that New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate is the reason why Kyrie Irving is frustrated. There is a time and a place for it.
New York City mayor Eric Adams said that while he remains optimistic about the numbers, the city's professional sports teams are going to have to wait their turn.
Adams said during a Tuesday morning press conference that masks will be optional for daycare students between the ages of 2 and 4 if the numbers continue to hold. Baseball, basketball, businesses, all of those things have to wait until that layer comes.
The private employer vaccine mandate, which does not allow employees or players to play for their teams if they are not vaccine free, is a layer that teams like the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, New York Yankees and New York Mets are waiting on. Nets star guard Kyrie Irving has not been able to play in any games in New York City this season because of the mandate because he is not vaccine free.
Adams said that they were going to follow the science and make the right decision. In New York, no matter what you do, you are never going to satisfy New Yorkers, so you must go with the logic, your heart and the science.
Adams does not sound like he will be swayed by any of the professional teams that may be impacted, because he will continue to listen to his medical team. The home opener is April 7. The NBA play-in tournament begins on April 12 and the Mets home opener is on April 15. Adams said he doesn't feel any pressure to pull back the mandate because he's going to do what's right.
We are going to peel back layer by layer and then we are going to do an analysis to see if we are ok. This is where the numbers are taking us, this is where the science is and this is what we are going to do. I see myself out of crisis because I am not going to only view this from where we are.
When we were talking about keeping the schools open, I told the team that we were going to do the right thing and that they should not worry about the noise. We don't want to admit it, but this administration got it right and they are going to do that again.
Adams said that local businesses are appreciative of the mandate remaining in place.
Adams said that a lot of his businesses love the mandates because they allow people to feel safe in the office. We are going to do it in layers, and if we feel it is the right time to look at that, we are going to make that determination. We are not there yet.
Over the past week, New York City's infection rate has risen 50%. The daily average before the start of the omicron wave was 970 new cases per day.
The city health commissioner says cases have increased slightly in recent days and officials will continue to watch the trends over the next two weeks before deciding whether to lift the rule.
Vasan said officials are closely watching the spread of a strain of the omicron subvariant known as BA.2 and expect to see some rising cases.
City officials say it is possible that the city will impose mandates if risk levels rise.
Information from The Associated Press was used.
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