If Kyrie Irving and any unvaccinated Yankees and Mets players were hoping that a new health commissioner in New York City would bring a change to the private sector mandate, they were hit with a deflating blow on Friday.
Speaking with reporters in his first days on the job, Dr. Ashwin Vasan said of the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for employment in the city, "I think it's indefinite at this point."
That mandate, which requires employees to be vaccinated in the city despite the Key2NYC mandates being lifted earlier this month, is what is forbidding Irving from taking the court at the Barclays Center for the Nets, despite the superstar being able to take in games from the arena seats. It is also the mandate that will prevent any unvaccinated Yankees or Mets players to take the field for home games in the coming season, though visiting unvaccinated players will be allowed to take part.
Reports indicate that the Yankees could have a few key players who still aren't vaccinated, with Aaron Judge long rumored to be one of them. Anthony Rizzo, who just signed a two-year deal to return to the Yanks, said he was unvaccinated last season and declined to answer if he had since received a vaccine when he was asked on Thursday.
Vasan also said that the city has no set "benchmark" or number of COVID-19 cases in the city in mind that would lead to that mandate being lifted, per Newsday, so it would appear that Irving, and potentially multiple Yankees and Mets players will continue to be ineligible to play in home games in 2022.
For Irving, that means potentially missing at least half of a seven-game playoff series. For any unvaccinated Yankees and Mets players, it means being placed on the restricted list for at least half the season, not accruing pay or service time for those games.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
