BUFFALO, N.Y. — While Nik Wallenda was walking the wire at D'Youville and the Blue Angels were practicing low-altitude aerial acrobatics with FA-18 Super Hornets over the west side Thursday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz was reportedly standing firm in his stance about vaccine requirements for Bills games.
According to The Buffalo News, Poloncarz said his opinion hasn't changed when it comes to his desire to require everyone in attendance for a Bills game this season to be vaccinated.
Poloncarz told the News that with so much time between now and the first Bills game that it would be "reasonable" for everyone to be vaccinated.
2 On Your Side has reached out to the Poloncarz directly for comment, as well as his staff, but we did not receive a response Thursday evening.
It's unclear if Poloncarz is still trying to issue a vaccine requirement, or simply stating his wish for everyone to be vaccinated.
Back on May 10, Poloncarz talked about the vaccine requirement issue:
"There's no question that a school district can require vaccines to enter the schools. We know we can do that for governmental buildings. When it comes to the football stadium, I announced that the only way we felt we could get 100% attendees and capacity back was if everyone was vaccinated. Originally, it was criticized but as we saw last week, the governor announced that the Yankees, the Mets, the Blue Jays could get to 100% capacity starting in a week at the stadiums, as long as everyone's vaccinated."
Since then, however, the New York State Department of Health has issued new guidance, saying that outdoor stadiums didn't need any requirement, now that the state has reached 70% of adults having at least one dose of the vaccine.
The Governor's Office also reiterated that Poloncarz doesn't have the authority to issue a vaccine requirement.
In a phone call with WGRZ, a spokesperson for Governor Cuomo said on Thursday night that the only institutions that could issue a vaccine requirement for the stadium were the Bills organization themselves or the state.
"Erie County, nor the County Executive have the authority to issue a vaccine requirement at the stadium," the spokesperson said.
WGRZ reached out to the Bills for comment and they said they will continue to follow any guidance that is issued by New York State.