FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2022
The following statement is from Assemblymember Michael Reilly (R-Staten Island) in response to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to lift the vaccine mandate for unvaccinated athletes and performers…
“Today’s announcement by Mayor Adams is proof that vaccine mandates are not rooted in science like certain politicians wanted you to originally believe, and it is yet another example of the haphazard policymaking that our city and state officials have become so known for.
For months we asked Mayor Adams, as well as his predecessor, Bill de Blasio, to lift these arbitrary mandates and let our child athletes play their sports. To date, there has been no movement on those requests, and city officials have actually doubled down on this bizarre logic by denying unvaccinated high school seniors from attending their own prom.
We rallied with municipal workers — cops, firefighters, teachers, sanitation workers, and so many others — who were unjustly fired for failing to comply with these mandates. This city fought fervently to defend its mandates and keep its workers sidelined.
Mayor Adams’ decision to grant unvaccinated athletes and performers an exemption from the very same rules that all other New Yorkers have been forced to follow shows that city officials value profit above all else.
This pandemic will be remembered in the history of our city, state, nation as a dark moment for government accountability.”