Vaccinated, Masked New Yorkers can Attend Outdoor Events with No Restrictions on May 19

By Yehudit Garmaise

    Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that on May 19, both vaccinated and unvaccinated New Yorkers will be able to attend events at stadiums, concerts, and racetracks, however, crowds will be divided into “vaccinated” and “not-vaccinated” sections.

   Vaccinated New Yorkers, who must wear masks and provide proof of vaccination, can fill outdoor stadiums to their normal capacities in normal seating areas with no social distancing requirements.

  “If you are vaccinated, now you sit together in a section next to your friends, next to your family,” said Gov. Cuomo, who added that children who are under 16 who are not yet eligible to get shots, can be seated with their families.

   Unvaccinated sports fans must also wear masks and maintain 6 feet of social distance from others in sections that remain at 33% capacity, as per the guidelines of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gov. Cuomo explained.

    Statewide, 16,071,778 New Yorkers, which is 45% of everyone who is now eligible, have gotten their shots, however, the governor said, vaccination rates are starting to slow for the first time.

   The hold-outs to whom the governor most wants to reach in the state’s vaccination efforts are the young and the vaccine-hesitant.

   Seizing an opportunity to provide shots to those who have not yet had a chance to get vaccinated, the New York Department of Health has teamed up with both the Yankees and the Mets to provide the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines right at games.

   “You can get a vaccine at the game,” said Gov. Cuomo, who also touted that the Mets and Yankees will provide a free ticket to a future game to anyone who gets vaccinated at their stadiums. “We will set up at the facility. You are going in come a little bit early you are going to the game. Anyway it is on your way: Stop and get a vaccine.

    "We are all on the same team: on the New York team. I get a vaccine to protect you, and you get one to protect me.”

 (Photo by: Darren McGee- Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)