Massachusetts Governor Baker has said the state will not follow in the footsteps of New York City and start requiring proof of vaccination for entry into venues and certain businesses. Without guidance from the top, some businesses in the Boston area are deciding to implement their own such rules. Jim Braude was joined on Greater Boston by one such business owner, City Winery CEO Michael Dorf, to hear about his decision, and by Dr. Sabrina Assoumou, an infectious diseases attending physician at Boston Medical Center, to hear what the science says about it all.
City Winery requires proof of vaccination for entry, which started first in New York. “It seemed obvious. Our job in the hospitability business is to really make people feel as comfortable as possible,” he said, noting that because the venue already asks for tickets and checks IDs, the policies were easy to implement. “Adding this layer wasn’t very difficult.”
Assoumou stressed the importance of vaccines, explaining that there are still numerous barriers to getting people vaccinated. “The other thing that’s really important is that we don’t want to just do mandates — what we want to do is pair the mandates with access,” she said. “And by access I don’t just mean making it available at CVS. [It’s] also making sure people have the time off to get vaccinated, that if they have side effects, they know they’ll get paid leave… another important thing is access to information. There’s been so much misinformation.”
WATCH: Without new mask mandate, Mass. event venues implement their own safety measures
