New York Mayor Eric Adams is set to lift the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for performers and professional athletes as early as this week, Politico reported on March 23, a rule that has come under growing criticism by local sports teams.

Fans attending baseball, football and outdoor music events in Los Angeles County will be required to wear a mask starting on Aug. 20 regardless of their vaccination status, according to an order on Aug. 17 from the health department.

For Debra Wiest, a 53-year-old teacher and lifelong New York Mets fan, the choice to get her Covid-19 vaccine at the club’s Citi Field was simple: She feels safe there. The Mets are hardly alone: Amid slowing demand for the vaccine in the United States, the professional sports world has joined local and state governments, as well as private businesses, in offering incentives for anyone willing to get the Covid-19 shot.

More than 60 U.S. stadiums and other venues are deploying an app from Clear to verify people’s Covid-19 status, placing the New York company known for its airport security fast lanes at the forefront of a national debate over “vaccine passports.”

Feb. 5 was a different sort of Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, the legendary home of baseball’s “Bronx Bombers,” as New York ramped up its drive to vaccinate the state’s most vulnerable residents, many who live in the hard-hit Bronx neighborhoods that surround the legendary sports venue.