Indoor venues in the Back Bay like restaurants, bars and gyms began adjusting to Mayor Michelle Wu’s new mandate that requires workers and patrons at all indoor venues to show proof of vaccination in order to bend the curve of the latest COVID-19 surge.
The “B Together” mandate officially went into effect Saturday across Boston with Mayor Wu saying the best way for Boston to stay healthy and support communities, businesses, and cultural institutions is for more people to get vaccinated and the B Together policy helps the city do just that.
On Saturday, people were required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter certain indoor spaces in Boston that offer iIndoor dining like bars and nightclubs, indoor fitness establishments and Indoor entertainment establishments. Employees working in those spaces are also required to now be vaccinated. Covered businesses are responsible for checking proof of vaccination and posting a notice about the COVID-19 vaccine requirement at their entrance.
However, some indoor venue owners have reported receiving hate mail and angry voicemail messages for following the city’s new guidelines. These owners feel they are being targeted not by loyal patrons but by an outside group of agitators that are against vaccine mandates in any shape or form. A group of anti-vaccers also staked out Mayor Wu’s home the other morning and shouted insults from the street calling the Mayor a ‘facisits’ for implementing the B Together initiative.
Wu stood her ground Saturday when kicking off the new mandate.
“Today’s launch of our B Together policy means that we are taking important steps on the policy side to close (vaccination rate) gaps and continue protections for our workforce and for our residents,” said Wu. “I continue to hear from our partners in health care and in our health institutions, that the ongoing strain on our health care system overall is still being driven by gaps in vaccination rates. We are seeing the need to push back even more surgeries because of COVID. Unvaccinated patients who are suffering from severe illness because of COVID are squeezing out the capacity for needed procedures and other health treatments. Every bit of delay is creating ripple effects later on for all of us. We all need a healthy and accessible healthcare system and that is very much tied up with preventable instances of severe illness and hospitalization due to gaps in COVID-19 vaccination rates. Our policy is meant to be a strong support for our healthcare system and for residents at large.”