San Francisco is set to become the first major U.S. city to require employees and patrons at indoor businesses such as "bars, restaurants, clubs, theaters and entertainment venues, as well as indoor gyms and other fitness establishments" show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination, as part of a comprehensive new health order announced by Mayor London Breed's office on Thursday.
The updated mandate is a response to the "continued spread of COVID-19 most recently driven by the Delta variant primarily among unvaccinated people," the mayor's office said.
Last week New York City became the first major city in the country to require at least one vaccine dose for indoor activities, however San Francisco will impose a stricter mandate by requiring full inoculation.
"The Health Order is designed to protect against the continued spread of COVID-19, particularly among the unvaccinated, while keeping businesses open and helping to ensure schools remain open," according to the mayor's office.
The mandate goes into effect for bars, restaurants, clubs and gyms on Aug. 20, except for employees, who will be given until Oct. 13 in order to "preserve jobs while giving time for compliance."
In addition, the health order mandated that all attendees 12 or older at events at indoor venues with 1,000 or more people must provide proof of vaccination, tightening the previous threshold of 5,000 or more people. This will go into effect on August 20 as well.
Full vaccination requirements were also extended to health care providers not covered under the state's mandate, such as workers at adult day centers, residential care facilities, dental offices, home health aides and pharmacists.
Another measure required that all city of San Francisco employees must be vaccinated 10 weeks after final approval of one of the vaccines by the FDA, which is expected soon.
"We know that for our city to bounce back from the pandemic and thrive, we need to use the best method we have to fight COVID-19 and that’s vaccines," Breed said. "Many San Francisco businesses are already leading the way by requiring proof of vaccination for their customers because they care about the health of their employees, their customers, and this City. This order builds on their leadership and will help us weather the challenges ahead and keep our businesses open. Vaccines are our way out of the pandemic, and our way back to a life where we can be together safely."
The city reported 78% of its eligible population is fully vaccinated, while it's 7-day daily average is 246 cases with a positivity rate of 5.6%. During the peak of last winter's surge there were 373 daily cases and the test positivity rate was 5.2%. As of August 8, 109 people were hospitalized compared to 265 people during the peak of the winter surge.
"The numbers demonstrate that even as cases soar, today’s surge is much less deadly than the previous ones with the most severe cases and hospitalizations among the unvaccinated," the mayor's office noted.
Prior to Thursday's announcement, some indoor venues already required a proof of vaccine at the door, a policy which the city encouraged businesses to implement.
Related
