As the Covid-19 vaccine mandate – those age 12 and over had to prove they had one dose of the vaccine to enter various establishments – was set to descend upon the city last Saturday, it wasn’t just restaurants, function halls, and coffee shops confronting the situation; there was much anxiety at ice rinks throughout Boston, including at Dorchester’s Devine Rink.

That angst, fueled by numerous calls and e-mails from parents, brought about a last-minute push by many of Dorchester’s elected officials to clarify and exempt ice rinks from the mandate, which the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) and Mayor Michelle Wu agreed to do late on Friday afternoon.

“The mandate was never intended to include youth sports and we just asked in our letter to clarify that by adding ‘ice rinks’ so that it was fair to everyone,” said City Councillor-at-Large Erin Murphy. “It was a mistake, and we were able to clarify that on Friday, and the Wu administration agreed. It didn’t make sense that kids up to grade 12 could participate and were exempt for a school activity but were not exempt from the same activity in the same location if it wasn’t for school.”

Murphy added that it was a quick resolution. “I don’t think it was as controversial as some want to make it,” she said. “That’s our job, to be pro-active and have these conversations and look at what’s written and what it really means.”

Ricardo Patrón, a Wu spokesperson, said on Monday that the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which owns most of the rinks in Boston, approached them on Friday with concerns about how to enforce the mandate on Saturday. He said that after some conversation, DCR and city officials agreed that the DCR facilities are exempt from the order.

In addition to Murphy, those signing the letter asking for clarification included Councillors Michael Flaherty, Ed Flynn, Frank Baker, state Sen. Nick Collins, and state Reps Dan Hunt and David Biele.

The mandate, announced last year, includes several exemptions including city community centers, senior centers, and public and non-profit schools grades pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. There hadn’t been much elaboration on the matter, and specifics around ice rinks weren’t really discussed until the last minute.

Many within the city’s youth hockey leagues, like Dorchester Youth Hockey (DYH), and the various club hockey organizations that play frequently in Boston rinks had assumed they were not affected by the mandate due to high school sports and community centers being exempt. However, last Thursday night, the DCR sent out communications to leagues across the city noting they would be requiring a vaccination card from parents and players aged 12 and up on Jan. 15.

Murphy said that notice caused a great deal of stress for parents and young players – even though many on the teams are vaccinated. She said the phone calls came in fast and furious on Friday.

“The concerns ranged from sadness to frustration to those that said they didn’t want to have to tell their kids another match or game is cancelled because the other team won’t come to Boston,” said Murphy. “Many wondered if it even logistically made sense.” She noted that a Framingham-based team had cancelled a game rather than come into Boston and be subject to the mandate in the rinks.

For all that, the ice rink exemption decision did not ring very popular on social media and in the public square. While many of those directly affected were relieved by the clarification, others thought the push was a mistake and a missed opportunity to get kids vaccinated.

As of Jan. 6, according to the state Department of Public Health (DPH), it was estimated that Boston’s vaccination rates for youth were low, with 66 percent of those 12-15 having a first dose, and 24 percent of age 5-11 having a first dose, and 46 percent of those 16-19 having a first dose.

Rosemary Powers, president of Dorchester’s Cristo Rey Boston School, said she didn’t want to criticize the exemption, but from her school’s experience, requiring a vaccine to play sports is a good way to “move the needle” on low youth vaccination rates.

Savin Hill’s Cristo Rey serves about 210 students from Dorchester and surrounding neighborhoods, and they’ve used a “carrot and stick” approach to raise their vaccine rates and keep their school open throughout the pandemic. She noted they’ve had no serious outbreaks since the pandemic began and said that by using continuous one-on-one vaccine education with families and requiring a vaccine for students to participate in sports and extra-curricular activities, they took their vaccine rate among students from 42 percent to 94 percent.

“We said that if it’s important for our community to be safe, it’s important for us to be vaccinated,” she said. “We didn’t require a vaccination to come to school at Cristo Rey, but we do require vaccination for students to participate in sports or extra-curricular activities…Kids love to play sports, and they love our clubs. So, we said anyone who wanted to participate in extra-curriculars had to be vaccinated. That did move the needle.”

Murphy said the matter with ice rinks was only about consistency and not about resistance to vaccines or the mandate.