New York City will require proof of vaccination to enter indoor bars and restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues for both customers and workers, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today.
The city is the first in the U.S. to institute such a requirement through what it is calling the ”Key to NYC Pass” program. COVID cases have begun to tick upward in what could be a third wave for the city due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
If you want to participate in society fully, you’ve got to get vaccinated. It’s time.
You’ll need proof of #COVID19 vaccination for indoor dining, indoor gyms, and indoor concerts and performances in New York City. This is a lifesaving mandate to keep our city safe. https://t.co/hIK99Z8M8A
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) August 3, 2021
Establishments will begin asking for proof of vaccination starting August 16 via the city’s new NYC COVID Safe app, New York state’s Excelsior app or a paper vaccination card. Enforcement is slated to begin September 13, when city schools reopen. City officials will work to educate businesses between now and that date, de Blasio said.
In addition to bar and restaurant patrons, gym-goers and theater attendees, city employees will also be required to get vaccinated with one of the three federally authorized vaccines or submit to weekly COVID tests. New York City is offering residents $100 to get vaccinated. So far, about two-thirds of the city’s adult residents are fully vaccinated, with either two shots of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines or one shot of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, according to the New York Times.
However, the city is only requiring a single dose of the vaccine to gain entry to restaurants, gyms and other indoor venues.
“The only way to patronize these establishments is if you are vaccinated, at least one dose,” de Blasio said during a press conference. “The same for folks in terms of work; they will need at least one dose.”
The state’s Excelsior app requires both doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to generate a digital pass, and checks users’ vaccination status against state and city records. The NYC COVID Safe app requires a photo upload of a vaccination card, but does not verify with records, according to the Times.
New York City isn’t alone in stepping up its public health protocols in light of the Delta variant. The San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance adopted a policy for its members to ask for proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours to allow patrons indoors for service. Six counties in the Bay Area of northern California reinstated mask mandates in public indoor spaces for people of all vaccination statuses yesterday.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards yesterday reinstated the statewide mask mandate for all people older than 5. In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser reinstated the district’s mask mandate for indoor public spaces on July 31. De Blasio has not reinstated a mask mandate, but encouraged New Yorkers to wear them indoors.
In Chicago, several bar owners have enacted their own mask mandates and vaccination requirements, according to the Chicago Tribune.
In France, residents will need to provide proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, planes, trains and hospitals beginning next week. In the two weeks after President Emmanuel Macron announced the new requirement, more than 4 million doses were administered, according to the Washington Post.
Organizers Cancel Denver Rare Beer Tasting
The Denver Rare Beer Tasting, scheduled for September 9, has been canceled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic, Pints for Prostates and the Colorado Brewers Guild announced today.
“Back in June when we decided to move forward with the event, rates of new cases were dropping and vaccination rates were moving forward,” Pints for Prostates founder Rick Lyke said in a press release. “We were optimistic that we had turned a corner and by September we could take precautions to safely host the event. However, the latest information on the Delta variant, along with the upward trend of new cases, gave us pause.
“As a men’s health charity, holding the Denver Rare Beer Tasting under these circumstances would be counter to our mission,” he continued.
The event, an intimate fundraiser that historically takes place during the week of the Great American Beer Festival, was canceled last year due to the pandemic. Ticket holders will receive full refunds.