Boston has announced a new vaccine mandate that applies only to fans but players are exempt, indicating again that the vaccination requirements are more about corporate and political control and not public health.
The Boston Globe reported via msn that Boston’s mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, announced her vaccine mandate for indoor venues, including sport arenas, which requires fans age 12 and older to be vaccinated in order to get entry. But the mandate doesn’t apply to players.
But there is an exemption for “a professional athlete/sports team who enters a covered premises as part of their regular employment for purposes of competing.”
The mandate for fans takes effect January 15 and they will not be allowed entry even if they present a negative COVID test result. However, players of both local teams like Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics (NBA) and visiting teams will be exempt from the mandate.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Boston’s mayor Michelle Wu faced noise of protest while trying to defend her new vaccine mandate that does not allow testing for COVID as alternative to enter indoor venues. According to Boston Herald, Boston Police Sgt. Shana Cottone was among the protesters chanting in protest as the mayor and her team announced the new mandate.
Cottone continued to say that the group is working with an attorney to look at possible legal options.
While there is no evidence that the COVID vaccines either prevent infection or help with the disease’s prognosis or potential hospitalization, fully vaccinated people including players are frequently testing positive for COVID-19. Earlier this month, Chicago Bulls guard tested positive despite being fully vaccinated. The previous month the same team’s player Nikola Vucevic tested positive despite being fully vaccinated, ESPN reported.
Recent COVID surveillance data from the UK shows that fully vaccinated people are at higher risk of infection and a significantly higher risk of death from COVID than unvaccinated people.