HOBOKEN, N.J. (WCBS 880) — Hoboken's mayor on Thursday imposed a vaccine mandate for this weekend's SantaCon.
Mayor Ravi Bhalla issued an executive order that mandates all establishments participating in the bar crawl require participants to show proof of vaccination.
Bar and restaurant staff will have to check that all attendees are fully vaccinated before they are allowed to enter the business.
Any person without proof of vaccination must be denied entry, according to the order.
"If you're not vaccinated, our message is simple: don't bother participating in a bar crawl this weekend," said Bhalla.
In an interview with WCBS 880, Bhalla said about 12 establishments have chosen to participate in the pub crawl and the burden will be on them to mandate and enforce the vaccine mandate.
The Hoboken Police Department and the Alcohol Beverage Control units will perform spot checks throughout the day to ensure compliance.
Any participating bar or establishment that violates the order risks immediate closure, liquor license revocation or disciplinary suspension.
"We take this very seriously in Hoboken, cases are rising by the day, there's a new variant, the ground is shifting under our feet, we need to react quickly as a government and we're trying to do everything we can within our powers to keep our resident here in Hoboken safe," Bhalla said.
The temporary order takes effect midnight Saturday and will end at 6 a.m. Sunday.
Other bars and restaurants that are not participating in the event are not subject to the order, but are encouraged to institute a vaccine requirement for entry this weekend.
SantaCon is a private event and is not sanctioned by the city of Hoboken. Bhalla said he finds it "highly irresponsible" for any establishment to hold a bar crawl in the middle of a pandemic.
"These are private events that we have limited control over," Bhalla said.
The order comes amid a winter spike in coronavirus infections and growing concerns over the spread of the omicron variant.
Daily positive COVID tests in New Jersey reached nearly 6,300 Thursday.
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