NEW YORK, United States (AP) — The Stop Inn isn’t hiding that it plans to comply with the city’s new edict on the novel coronavirus — that all patrons dining indoors at restaurants, browsing art at museums or sweating it out at gyms must prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Signs on the front door and windows of the Queens diner went up Monday ahead of yesterday’s compliance with the city’s latest effort to fight the particularly troublesome and more contagious Delta variant that has fuelled a surge in infections and hospitalisations.
Norbu Lama, 17, said he was surprised when a server politely asked for his vaccination card soon after he slid into a booth with his parents and younger sister.
“We didn’t know we had to bring it,” he said. The server appeared relieved when Lama and his family presented copies of their vaccination cards on their phone, Lama said.
The vaccination mandate, announced two weeks ago by Mayor Bill de Blasio, aims to persuade more people to get vaccinated or else miss out on city amenities like restaurants, bars, gyms, public performances, museums and other venues.
But the measures are fraught with complications as restaurant servers, bartenders and ticket agents become the front line enforcers for vaccination rules. Skittish about losing business but mindful that another economic shutdown could be disastrous, business owners are keenly aware that controlling the virus will keep their doors open.
“We do not want to go back to restrictions,” de Blasio said at a virtual news conference yesterday. “The key to our progress is vaccination.”