NYC High School Athletes, Coaches Must Be Vaccinated

NEW YORK CITY — The city's public high school athletes won't be able to play ball without a coronavirus vaccine.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that athletes and coaches in high-risk sports — football, volleyball, wrestling, lacrosse and rugby, in addition to bowling — now face a vaccine mandate.

“Any athlete, any coach has to have gotten their first dose of the vaccine by the first day of play or the first time that they practice with a team,” he told WNYC's Brian Lehrer.

The mandate will cover roughly 20,000 Public School Athletic League students and staff, Department of Education officials said.

The first day of competitive play for football is Sept. 3 and Sept. 27 for volleyball. Winter and spring athletes have until the beginning of their seasons to be fully vaccinated, officials said.

De Blasio's mandate is the latest measure designed to boost vaccinations and protect New Yorkers as the highly contagious delta variant spreads.

This week, a sweeping indoor vaccine mandate started for restaurants, entertainment venues and gyms.

The mayor hinted the vaccine requirement for coaches could pave the way for a wider mandate covering all public school teachers.

“We’re actively looking right now at different actions we could take in terms of the schools,” he said.