Teams like the San Francisco Giants, Mets and New York Yankees begin to ask fans for a vaccination passport to enter stadiums. The digital verification is done through the Health Pass application, from the technology company Clear for the detection of Covid-19.
“Visitors with valid game tickets who are unable to submit negative Covid-19 test within the required time frames or proof of a complete vaccination will not be allowed into Yankee Stadium. Guests can use Health Pass by Clear to confirm results. of their covid testing for the event, “the team announced in a statement.
Since April 7, a third of NBA teams began using Health Pass and more than 50 organizations in the US, including major sports leagues. Clear announced in February that it received $ 100 million in funding, including from the NFL office, Michael Jordan, and Liberty Media, to expand the app even further.
Venue attendee capacity varies by state. In February, the Phoenix Suns increased in-game capacity to 3,000 fans, while the Indiana Pacers gradually increased to 4,500 or 25% capacity.
The teams look to recover from losses in box office revenue; MLB projected they were losing an amount of $ 640,000 per game due to the absence of fans and the Yankees lost $ 312 million for last season, the league said. Meanwhile, the NBA could lose 3.5 billion from its 2020-21 season because fans weren’t buying arena tickets, food from stalls or parking vouchers, Commissioner Adam Silver said in December.
On the other hand, states like Utah, Texas, Florida and Montana banned vaccine passports. Gov. Greg Gianforte of Montana said vaccines are “completely voluntary and will not be required by the state or enforced through vaccine passports or other mandatory means. We are committed to protecting individual liberty and personal privacy.”
Other forms of vaccination certification are beginning to be used in the world. The World Health Organization is developing a digital Smart Vaccination Certificate for people who want to travel internationally. In Israel, many residents use a “green pass,” a paper or digital certificate, which allows them to enter restaurants, gyms and other businesses. Officials from China, Denmark and Japan have also said they plan to introduce vaccine passports for citizens.
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