SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco will soon require patrons to show proof of complete vaccination against COVID-19 to enter gyms, restaurants, bars and other indoor venues, Mayor London Breed announced Thursday.
During a news conference, Breed said both employees and customers of these indoor venues must have proof of vaccination — starting Aug. 20 for patrons and Oct. 13 for employees.
“We know that for our city to bounce back from the pandemic and thrive, we need to use the best method we have to fight COVID-19, and that’s vaccines,” Breed said.
New York City also will soon require at least one dose of the vaccine to enter indoor locations, and the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday called for an ordinance that would similarly require at least one dose to enter restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters and other venues.
San Francisco’s move comes after many restaurants and bars in the city began voluntarily asking patrons for proof of vaccination. Unlike New York and Los Angeles, San Francisco will require full vaccination, not just one dose.
Other California cities with similar requirements include Palm Springs and Cathedral City. Both will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result later this month to enter restaurants and bars.
The requirements come at a time of a nationwide surge of COVID-19 cases, caused by the extremely contagious Delta variant. The strain has even infected some vaccinated people, but the overwhelming number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 have been unvaccinated.
California has done much better than many states in keeping the Delta variant in check and is now ahead of others on vaccine mandates. The state has ordered that healthcare workers statewide must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 come early fall, with limited exemptions allowed for medical or religious reasons. State and school employees will have to show proof they’ve been vaccinated, with those who remain uninnoculated subject to a regular testing regimen.
San Francisco’s school district is also requiring teachers and other staff members to be vaccinated or take weekly COVID-19 tests.
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(Los Angeles Times staff writers Emily Alpert Reyes and Luke Money contributed to this report.)
