Bars, restaurants in Jefferson and Clallam counties to require proof of COVID vaccination

All patrons entering an indoor restaurant or bar in Jefferson and Clallam counties must provide proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 starting Saturday, Sept. 4, according to a public health order issued Thursday.

“Indoor bars and restaurants are known to pose a high risk for COVID-19 transmission, as they encourage unmasking of large groups of people indoors,” Dr. Allison Berry, the health office for both counties, said in a news release. “Our goal is to make these safer places to be and to reduce transmission in our communities, allowing our hospitals to keep functioning and our schools to open more safely this fall.”

Acceptable forms of proof include a completed CDC-issued vaccination card, a state Department of Health certificate verifying vaccination against the virus, or a printed copy of a state Department of Health vaccine record. A photograph of any of those documents — as well as an app-based vaccine “passport” — are also acceptable.

According to the order, a person is fully vaccinated when they have received all the required doses of a COVID vaccine and 14 days have passed since the final dose. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one.

Bar and restaurant employees, who are required to wear masks at all times and don't remove them in public spaces to eat or drink, are exempt from the order. Children under 12 — who aren't yet eligible to receive a COVID vaccine — are also exempt.  

“Given the ability of the delta variant to spread beyond 6 feet when people are unmasked indoors, we believe that a vaccine requirement will be more effective and less costly than the capacity limitations we saw last year,” Berry said. “We want to keep businesses open while protecting the public. This is how we do it.”

According to the news release, 495 outbreaks of COVID have been traced to restaurants and bars in Washington in the last month, including several in Jefferson and Clallam counties. Statewide, Washington is averaging more than 3,400 cases per day and hospitalizations increased 35% over the last two weeks.

King County has not issued such an order, but dozens of bars and restaurants have independently implemented similar requirements.
 
"With hospitals around our region stretched to the breaking point, we need to do everything we can to keep our communities safe,” Berry said. “Getting vaccinated with this incredible vaccine, which is safe, effective, free and life-saving, is simply the right thing to do.”