LA City Council passes vaccine mandate for indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, shopping centers
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday, Oct. 6, passed an ordinance to require people to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination before entering indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, shopping centers, entertainment venues and personal care establishments.
The council voted 11-2 to pass the mandate, with council members John Lee and Joe Buscaino dissenting. The ordinance now goes to the mayor, who is expected to sign off on it.
“We’ve spent too much time placing restrictions on people who did their part by getting vaccinated and wearing their masks,” said Council President Nury Martinez, in a statement from last week. “We need to both limit the transmission of the virus as well as make it inconvenient for those who are unvaccinated to access indoor venues and put lives at jeopardy. The stakes are too high.”
Businesses will start checking vaccination status on Nov. 4 and full enforcement of the mandate will begin on Nov. 29 for all spaces, according to a statement from Martinez. The timeline, Martinez said, aligns with the county Department of Health’s revised health order issued on Sept. 17. Penalties will range from a warning for a first offense to $5,000 for a fourth offense. The Department of Public Health and the Department of Building and Safety are charged tasked with enforcing the new rules, the statement said.
Read more: https://www.dailynews.com/2021/10/06/la-city-council-passes-mask-mandate-for-indoor-restaurants-bars-gyms-shopping-centers/
(Los Angeles Daily News)