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Following New York City’s Mayor Warren Wilhelm Jr’s (aka Bill de Balsio) order, London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, announced Thursday that the city will begin to require proof of vaccination to visit restaurants, bars, and several other indoor venues to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.
KRON reported that 71 percent of the city’s eligible residents About 78 percent of San Francisco residents are vaccinated. The city said in a news release that despite the vaccination numbers, there is a 5.6 percent positivity rate, which is higher than the 5.2 percent during the winter surge.
NBC Bay Area reported that workers at some restaurants across the city will have to assume the role of “vaccine bouncer” and confront those who refuse to follow the rule.
“It will be a little bit more challenging for us,” Pete Sittnick, the restaurant manager at Waterbar, told the station. “We’re already scrambling as it is.”
He told the station that one scenario that worries him is how to deal with a large group where one person is unvaccinated.
“We’re nimble; we try to be as good as we can,” he said. And you know what? We’re probably going to piss somebody off.”
The report said those who want to dine outside do not have to show any proof of vaccination and retail shops and grocers are not subject to the rule. People still need to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status.
Dr. Susan Ehrlich, the CEO of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, told the station that the fourth wave may have hit its peak in the city and said “hospitalizations are leveling off.”
The hospital had 19 patients with infection and 15 of those are unvaccinated, she said. The other four are breakthrough cases.
San Francisco was the first major city in the U.S. to announce a mandate on showing proof of vaccination in order to enter some venues.
City residents aged 12 and older will now be required to show proof of vaccination to enter indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, and theaters, as well as large event spaces with at least 1,000 people.