We’ve reached the point in our fight against COVID-19 where it’s almost becoming lucrative to get the vaccine.
The shots are now in genuinely fun places, too. The Milwaukee Bucks doled out doses to anyone in the stands on Sunday. And the Seattle Sounders and Mariners are inoculating fans at their stadiums during games.
Hey, whatever gets more people to take the damn thing works.
Today, the Mets and Yankees became the latest franchises to offer the free vaccine to fans. But the New York baseball teams are taking it a step further — take the free shot, earn a free ticket. That’s according to the embattled governor of New York, who announced the teams’ partnership with New York State Department of Health.
I’m sure there are now thousands of New York sports fans who are legitimately wondering, “Did I get my vaccine too early?”
You can’t blame ‘em. Ticket prices at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium aren’t cheap.
In his news conference, the governor also said there will be designated sections for vaccinated and unvaccinated fans. Vaccinated fans will have “full capacity” regular seating, unvaccinated patrons will sit elsewhere, where 6-foot social distancing rules still apply. Masks are still required in both sections.
But is the attempt to separate vaccinated and unvaccinated fans going to backfire? Maybe.
But maybe not. Offering more places to get vaccinated and more chances to go back to some semblance of normalcy will probably be attractive to many sports fans, too. I know I’m looking forward to getting back to the stadium.
Of course, there is another soon-to-be New York MLB team moving to Buffalo next month. As of now, we don’t know if the same rules will apply for the Jays.
So if you want to take the shot at a Yankees or Mets game because you’ll get a free ticket, cool. If you want to go to a Yankees or Mets game because that means you’ll get a shot, also cool. The doses are out there and all adults are eligible. Go get it.