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Vernon  

Vernon restaurants report smooth sailing on first day of vaccine passports

Day 1 goes smoothly

Despite fears of confrontations and backlash over new vaccine passport rules at restaurants, popular eateries in Vernon reported no hassles on Monday, the first day of the passports' implementation.

General manager Clinton Bialas at Marten Brewing in downtown Vernon said things have "been pretty quiet."

"We put up tons of signage, and we had some fun with banners that say 'we make the beer, not the rules,'" Bialas said Monday afternoon.

As far as confrontations, "there's not been one," he says, but he did see a couple of people walk by outside with signs declaring their displeasure with the passport system.

Much like several other restaurants' voicemail systems revealed, many were not taking takeout orders on Monday.

That's because there had been a social media campaign against the new pandemic restrictions, encouraging people to make large takeout orders and then not show up to pay for them.

Katie Dahl of Pretium Restaurant Group said meetings were held to prepare staff at Wings Vernon and The Italian Kitchen "to care for our guests in a mindful yet compliant way."

Both restaurants are following provincial guidelines, but Dahl questioned the effectiveness of partial vaccination as a means of slowing the spread of COVID-19.

As of Sept. 13, patrons must show proof of at least one dose of vaccine, with a second shot required by Oct. 24.

"When community spread is occurring, proof of a negative COVID-19 test may be a more legitimate public health measure than proof of vaccination," said Dahl, suggesting investment in large-scale rapid testing infrastructure.

"Risks to personal privacy and freedom are serious concerns, but there are times that public health needs justify intervention. Our worry lies in the potential for vaccine credentialing programs to codify existing inequity and create entirely new divisions within society," Dahl added.

"Who will be charged with policing this system? And who is more likely to be policed for potential violations? ... If frontline employees are responsible to check credentials, there is the risk of bias and discrimination on the part of workers on who they target. There is also the risk of verbal or other abuse directed at workers from potential patrons denied access."

Dahl's husband, Sherman, said things went smoothly today, but they did have a handful of people pull up, then turn around when they saw vaccine passport signage on the door. A few others didn't have the appropriate vaccine card or QR code on them, so they were unable to be served.

At The Kal sports bar, staff said things went smoothly Monday, with only a couple of comments against the passports.

Across town at Brown's Socialhouse, a manager said: "Day 1, so far it's been totally fine. No confrontations."



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