Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a new vaccine requirement for D.C. restaurants, gym and other businesses starting January 15:
New: DC will have a vaccine mandate for restaurants, gyms, and many other businesses starting January 15.
— Julie Zauzmer Weil (@juliezweil) December 22, 2021
This includes children over 12:
Beginning Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 6AM certain establishments will be required to verify that patrons ages 12 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. pic.twitter.com/jDQMdE0bAN
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) December 22, 2021
The mandate is targeted primarily at restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and events/meetings:
Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs will be required to verify that patrons 12 and up have received at least one dose of vaccine
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
Details here:
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
Grocery stores, museums, churches and retail stores aren’t covered by the order:
Grocery stores are not covered under mandate
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
Churches, places of worship, museums, not covered by vax mandate
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
Retail not covered either.
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
It does sound like there will be some confusion based on this definition though:
D.C. applying a “places where people gather and congregate” standard, which seems like it’s going to be difficult to explain
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
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She explained the churches, retail and museums have different risk profiles than restaurants, gyms, and nightclubs:
Re: church exemption: Bowser says they’ve looked at where cases spread and “this is where we stand on the vaccine requirement.”
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
Museums are more similar to shopping malls than to nightclubs in terms of their risk, Bowser says
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
And there will be some sort of fast-food exemption:
Caller asks whether he’s going to have to show his CDC card to buy a Big Mac. Bowser says there is a “quick trip” carveout.
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
She also admitted the mandate is really to force people to get vaccinated and not “squash case numbers”:
Will mandate help squash case numbers? It will encourage people to get vaxxed, Bowser says.
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 22, 2021
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