BUFFALO, N.Y. — During a visit to Buffalo on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo indicated that fans who are not vaccinated will still be allowed to attend Buffalo Bills games, despite the insistence of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz that only vaccinated fans will be permitted and that he has the authority to make the decision.
It is not the first the time the two politicians have differed in their stance on the matter, and on who has the ultimate say.
Poloncarz has maintained that because the county owns Highmark Stadium, it is the county which makes the decision.
Cuomo has said it's ultimately up to the state.
As recently as Tuesday, when asked if he thought he had the authority to require those attending Bills games to be vaccinated, Poloncarz once again insisted, "under the authority granted to me by New York State and Erie County, I do have that power."
However, when discussing the topic on Wednesday, Cuomo remarked, "There's no difference between the Mets formula and the Yankees formula, and that's going to be the Bills formula."
The formula he referred involves the current guidelines set down by the state, under which fans can attend Major League Baseball in the state, including games involving the Toronto Blue Jays, which are set to start at Buffalo's Sahlen Field on June 1.
Under those guidelines, half of a stadium's seats are reserved for those who have been vaccinated and a team may sell as many seats within that section as it might.
The other half of the stadium is reserved for the unvaccinated, who will sit physically distanced from others in their pods.
In a change announced on Wednesday, non vaccinated fans also no longer need to have proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test to be permitted to attend.
However, all fans must wear cloth face coverings when not eating or drinking.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the country where stadiums are now welcoming fans at full capacity and with no mask mandates, there have been no spike in the number of cases as a result.