- Title: No vaccine, no drinking - LA bars play tough with patrons
- Date: 23rd July 2021
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 22, 2021) (REUTERS) GROUP ARRIVING TO BAR AND MAN SHOWS HIS VACCINE CARD AND ID TO BOUNCER VARIOUS OF SIGN OUTSIDE BAR ONLY ALLOWING VACCINATED AND RECENTLY TESTED PEOPLE IN MAN BEING TURNED AWAY FOR NOT HAVING A VACCINATION CARD EXTERIOR OF AKBAR BOUNCER TO SIGN SAYING (English) "You must wear a mask and please show proof of vaccination" MAN ENTERING BAR INTERIOR BAR BARTENDER JENNIFER BARRICK TALKING TO CUSTOMERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BARTENDER, JENNIFER BARRICK, SAYING: "This is a community and we care about our patrons, we care about our customers and we care about our staff and we did it for safety and there's so many mixed messages coming from the government and health departments and things and our managers and our bosses felt that they needed to draw a line in the sand and protect everybody and I'm totally for it, yeah." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN BAR BARRICK AT TILL (SOUNDBITE) (English) BARTENDER, JENNIFER BARRICK, SAYING: "And you know what? If they do, bye! There's other bars to go to. I just feel right now we all have to do our part to just keep California, to keep things moving forward because we cannot do another 15 months of being closed and unemployment and all the stress and financial hardship and emotional hardships that came with that entire pandemic, you know." BAR IN HOLLYWOOD CUSTOMERS BEING SERVED DRINKS VARIOUS OF BAR PATRONS (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENDALL MUNGO FROM NORTH CAROLINA, SAYING: "Honestly, I feel it's good that they're requiring proof because I know a lot of people that go round without their masks on and they're not vaccinated and they pretend to be vaccinated and I think it's good for the safety of everybody - do you know what I mean? - because COVID is actually real. A lot of people don't think it's real but I mean personally, I think it's a good idea." (SOUNDBITE) (English) PHARMACIST, BRITTANY RAY, FROM AUSTIN, TEXAS, SAYING: "So I do work in a hospital and at this point, every patient I have seen coming in with COVID is completely unvaccinated so I think it's important that patients and everyone around are getting vaccinated and if they aren't for their own choices, then they need to accept that and the consequences of it and that includes the anti-mask are not allowed places because they have chosen not to be vaccinated." (SOUNDBITE) (English) "NAUGHTY BANG", FROM NEW JERSEY, SAYING: "As far as bars requiring vaccination cards, I feel like 'Naaah'. They're doing too much now. I feel like if you all want vaccination cards, come on now - we're trying to make America regular again. We're trying to get back to regular. We didn't have to do that back then."
- Embargoed: 6th August 2021 06:19
- Keywords: Bars Hollywood Los Angeles coronavirus drinkers drinks restrictions testing vaccination card
- Location: LOS ANGELES / WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; INTERNET
- City: LOS ANGELES / WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; INTERNET
- Country: USA
- Topics: Health/Medicine,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA001EN294CN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Several bars around Los Angeles have decided to only allow patrons who can show their vaccination cards or recent proof of testing.
Around 20 bars have already posted signs outside their establishments, telling customers they have to show physical or digital proof of their vaccination or recent testing along with their ID.
One of those bars is Akbar in Silverlake. They brought in the restrictions on Sunday (July 18).
Bartender Jennifer Barrick told Reuters "This is a community and we care about our patrons, we care about our customers and we care about our staff and we did it for safety and there are so many mixed messages coming from the government and health departments and things and our managers and our bosses felt that they needed to draw a line in the sand and protect everybody."
When asked if there had been any pushback from clientele, she said there hadn't been but added "You know what? If they do, bye! There are other bars to go to. I just feel right now we all have to do our part to just keep California, to keep things moving forward because we cannot do another 15 months of being closed and unemployment and all the stress and financial hardship and emotional hardships that came with that entire pandemic."
Drinkers in Hollywood reacted to the concept with most being supportive of the idea.
Kendall Mungo, from North Carolina, said "I know a lot of people that go round without their masks on and they're not vaccinated and they pretend to be vaccinated and I think it's good for the safety of everybody."
Pharmacist Brittany Ray, who works in a hospital in Austin, Texas, said "Every patient I have seen coming in with COVID is completely unvaccinated so I think it's important that patients and everyone around are getting vaccinated and if they aren't for their own choices, then they need to accept that and the consequences of it."
However, not all were in favor. A man who presented himself as "Naughty Bang" told Reuters "As far as bars requiring vaccination cards, I feel like 'Naaah'. They're doing too much now."
He isn't the only one. When the small amount of Los Angeles bars posted their entry rules online, they were inundated with bad reviews on customer feedback site Yelp.
One poster called the move "medical apartheid".
However, Hollywood drinker Jeremy Cordy had a novel approach to those complaining about these new rules.
He said "There are so many people that are so... I don't want to say stupid but I want to say paranoid and paranoia and stupidity often cross a lot of streams. It's kind of like the Ghostbusters movie. You'll cross the streams a lot of times and you're not supposed to. Sometimes you'll kill the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and sometimes you'll just kill yourselves."
A new mask mandate began in Los Angeles on Saturday night (July 17), following six days in which 1,000 new COVID-19 cases had been reported in the county.
400 people were hospitalized in the week prior to the mandate, which was up 275 from the week before.
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