Los Angeles County set to mandate vaccination for indoor bars

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Los Angeles County will now require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for patrons and workers at indoor bars, wineries, breweries, lounges and nightclubs, starting next month.  

The new initiative in the nation’s most populous county will begin from October 7, with proof of at least one vaccine dose required. According to the county’s Department of Public Health, by November 4 proof of full vaccination will be mandatory.

Health officials have strongly recommended the same precautions for indoor restaurants but have not chosen to mandate proof of vaccination for them. The new restrictions come ahead of the holiday season, which brought a massive surge to Los Angeles last year.

More than 25,000 people have died of the virus countywide and the toll continues to climb amid the more-contagious delta variant. The county also will require proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours for attendees and workers at outdoor events with at least 10,000 people, including at theme parks.

The same requirement is already in place for indoor events of 1,000 people or more. The health department is also planning to issue “toolkits” to businesses so they can confirm vaccine status.

Los Angeles and much of the rest of the state has seen significant improvement with virus infections recently. Statewide, the number of new cases in the last two weeks dropped by 33%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks California as the state with the lowest number of new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days. The Central Valley still has some hospitals that are pushed to the breaking point with COVID-19 patients. But overall hospitalizations in California have fallen by about 25% since the start of the month.

LA County reinstated its indoor mask mandate, regardless of vaccination status, on July 17 just a month after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared California “reopened.” Newsom recently mentioned that while 82% of people in California ages 12 and over have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, more of the state’s residents need to get their shots.

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