A New York politician suggests that only fans who can prove they have been vaccinated for the coronavirus should be allowed to attend Buffalo Bills and Sabers games.
While claiming that officials expect a full stadium for the coming sports seasons, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz nonetheless insisted that it is safer to have sports venues limited only to vaccinated fans, the Buffalo News reported.
Poloncarz exclaimed that people are perfectly free not to take any of the various coronavirus vaccines, but they aren’t free to attend a football or hockey game.
“There is no God-given right to attend a football game,” the Democrat said.
Poloncarz noted that the county owns both KeyBank Center, where the Sabres play, and Highmark Stadium, where the Bills play, so he feels the government can make the rules. In fact, even the state has no say in the matter.
“I know people are like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty strict.’ But we’re trying to protect not only the people in the stands, but the players on the field, concessionaires, our sheriff’s deputies, the security guards, and the best way to do it is to ensure that everyone’s vaccinated” Poloncarz said.
The official plans to use the Excelsior app, which is already in use by the state department of health. And with that in mind, Poloncarz insists that since the state is already tracking vaccinations through the app, the information is not private and can exclude unvaccinated fans at sports venues.
He also says that using the app would put an end to mass testing of fans. All a fan would have to do is prove they are in the state’s vaccine database.
It does not seem that Poloncarz mentioned how demands of vaccine proof might affect fans from out of state.
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