BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - No vaccine? No Bills game.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced Tuesday that all fans looking to attend a Buffalo Bills game this season must receive a vaccine.
"Our goal is to have a 100% full house for the Bills and the Sabres starting in the fall," Poloncarz said. "That's ensuring everyone who enters that facility, the fans and the staff, are fully vaccinated."
Erie County owns Highmark Stadium and leases it to the Buffalo Bills. Erie County's hope is to have the policy in effect before the first Bills preseason game.
You will have to show proof of your vaccination using the Excelsior Pass, a smartphone app created by New York State and IBM. The pass was first released last month.
“As we did last year, we will continue to cooperate and comply with all New York state and local government regulations regarding our sporting events," the Buffalo Bills said in a statement.
Poloncarz said the requirement will ensure that games are a safe environment for everyone to go to. There will be no exemptions on the vaccine, including for religious or medical reasons.
"There's no God-given right to attend a football game and no right to potentially put other people at risk because of illness," Poloncarz said.
The Excelsior Pass will only work for New Yorkers, meaning out-of-state fans will not be able to show proof of vaccination using the app. Poloncarz said there is still plenty of time to ensure that those people will be able to prove they received a vaccine. Children under the age of 16 are currently ineligible to receive the vaccine.
"We feel that most of the summer we'll be vaccinating children because we feel we'll be in a pretty good position certainly by the end of May with adults," Poloncarz said. "We've got plenty of time. THis is not like the football games will be held in three weeks. There's no spring football for the Buffalo Bills...our goal is to work through this to ensure that everyone who walks through that facility is vaccinated and we're able to access it through the Excelsior Pass."