Customers who want to go into a bar or restaurant in Jefferson County will need to show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 starting Saturday.
Jefferson County Public Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry issued a public health order adopting the new requirement Thursday, Sept. 2.
“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,” Berry said in Thursday's announcement.
“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,” she added.
The new rule will also cover restaurants and bars in Clallam County, where Berry is also the public health officer.
It takes effect Sept. 4.
The mandate does not include children under 12 who cannot be vaccinated.
Public health officials said acceptable forms of proof of vaccination include a completed vaccination card from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a Washington State Department of Health certificate of COVID-19 vaccination; a printed copy of a state Department of Health vaccine record; a photograph of any of those documents; or an app-based vaccine passport.
Some local businesses have already adopted the requirement to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
The Keg and I in Chimacum started requiring proof of COVID vaccination on Thursday, July 29.
According to Barry's order, there have been 495 COVID-19 outbreaks that have been traced to bars and restaurants in Washington state.
"Localized transmission of COVID-19 and outbreaks related to restaurants and bars have been documented in Jefferson County," Barry noted in the order. "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."
Health officials said there had been "several" COVID outbreaks in Jefferson and Clallam counties, according to data that local officials had received from the state Department of Health.
Health officials said a person is considered fully vaccinated when they have received all the required doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 and two weeks have passed since the final dose. Two doses are required for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, while one is required for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The new restriction does not mandate that restaurant and bar employees who wear masks to provide proof of vaccination.
Berry said the new rule would be less costly to businesses than limiting the number of indoor patrons.
“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,” she added.
Health officials reported 713 total cases of COVID-19 in Jefferson County Wednesday, an increase of 18 cases from the day before.
Since Monday, Aug. 31, Jefferson County Public Health has reported 45 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county.
Health officials noted that 94 percent of the people in Washington state who have been hospitalized for COVID-19 have been unvaccinated, and 92 percent of the deaths in Washington due to the coronavirus have involved unvaccinated people.
In Jefferson County, a total of 48 people have been hospitalized due to the disease, with three of those hospitalizations being reported Wednesday.
Four people in Jefferson County have died from COVID-19.
Statewide, there have been 6,611 deaths and 31,106 hospitalizations because of the coronavirus.
Berry stressed Thursday that people who have not been vaccinated should get jabbed.
"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.”
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