About three-quarters of D.C. residents support the city’s vaccine requirement to enter certain businesses, a policy that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) ended Tuesday.
The citywide Washington Post poll finds 74 percent of residents support D.C.’s requirement to show proof of vaccination before going inside restaurants, gyms, concert venues and sports arenas. Most D.C. residents also say Bowser’s restrictions on residents and businesses have been “about right.”
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Majorities across the city support the vaccine requirement, including 86 percent of White residents, 63 percent of Black residents, majorities across different age groups, income levels, educational attainments and across wards.
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Spokespeople for Bowser did not immediately return requests for comment on the poll results.
Bowser said Monday the vaccine mandate had achieved its desired effect: The city administered over 50,000 vaccinations within three weeks of the announcement of the vaccine requirement in late December, half of which were first or second doses. According to city data, more than 93 percent of residents have had at least one dose of a vaccine.
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“We also know that people who have been vaccinated and others are wanting to get back to their normal lives and know what they need to do to keep themselves safe,” Bowser said during the news conference announcing the end of the vaccine mandate.
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Several members of the D.C. Council expressed disapproval of Bowser’s decision, taking to social media to say the move was premature and could increase risks for immunocompromised residents and create complications for parents of young children who cannot be vaccinated.
Among them was Ward 1 Council member Brianne K. Nadeau (D), who added Tuesday that she would attempt to reinstate the mandate through emergency legislation. Such a bill would require nine votes to pass.
In November, when Bowser eased the city’s mask mandate, 10 members of the council wrote to her administration asking her to reconsider the choice. Bowser reinstated the mask mandate over a month later, as the highly transmissible omicron variant took hold of the region.
D.C. to drop coronavirus vaccination requirement to enter businesses
This Washington Post poll was conducted between Feb. 2 and Feb. 14 among a random sample of 904 adult D.C. residents over landline and cellphones, including cellphones with non-202 area codes. The overall margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.
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Before the vaccine requirement was lifted, 63 percent of District residents said that Bowser imposed the right amount of restrictions on residents in response to the coronavirus, while 19 percent say she hadn’t put in enough restrictions and 16 percent said there are too many restrictions.
Majorities across demographic groups say she had the right amount of restrictions, but this is lower among younger residents: Half of D.C. adults under 30 say Bowser had the right amount of restrictions, compared with about two-thirds of residents 30 to 64 and three-quarters of those 65 and older. Among younger residents, a similar share say Bowser imposed too many restrictions as said she imposed too few.
As some business owners in the city celebrated the vaccine requirement’s end ahead of the announced expiration of D.C.’s indoor mask mandate on March 1, others said they would stick with rules that have been in place since the December omicron surge.
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Peter Pastan, co-owner of 2 Amy’s Pizzeria in Northwest D.C., said in an interview that the restaurant would keep checking vaccine cards.
“I don’t think anyone’s explained to me why I shouldn’t,” he said. “I don’t know what new metrics the government has used to make this decision. I want to keep employees safe.”
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Audrey Fix Schaefer, spokeswoman for IMP, which runs the Anthem and the 9:30 Club, among other venues, said that the company would keep checking vaccine cards for now.
“We are maintaining the proof of vaccination requirement for patrons,” she said in an email. “We will encourage patrons to wear masks [after March 1], though it won’t be a requirement. Our staff will still be required to wear masks.”
Paul Vivari, owner of Showtime and the Neptune Room, said his two bars are keeping the vaccination mandate in place until at least the end of the month. When the mask mandate ends, he said, “We’ll see where things are trending from there.”
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Other restaurateurs were happy to say goodbye to vaccine rules.
Devin Gong, the owner-operator of the D.C. bars Astoria and Copycat Co., said “it’s time to move on” from restrictive coronavirus rules. Those in the restaurant industry must inevitably face the risk of contagion, especially when trying to enforce rules among unwilling people who are drinking.
Moreover, Gong said, the rules are a “charade” — patrons mask up to go to the bathroom, but then remove their masks as they sit together while drinking.
“It’s been two years,” Gong said. “It’s time to worry about something else that’s more relevant.”
With the overnight end of the indoor vaccine requirement and the approaching end of the mask mandate on March 1, bars and restaurants are not the only businesses affected.
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Trish Tillman, assistant manager of District Flow Yoga in Eastern Market, said her studio would no longer enforce expired rules. Students would still be welcome to wear masks, and the studio might offer mask-only, vaccine-only classes if students request them. However, she will not be wearing a mask, she said, as it makes projecting her voice when teaching difficult.
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“It’s just irritating,” she said. “I’m vaccinated and boosted … I’m personally not concerned for myself so much.”
Earl Grant, manager of Planet Fitness in Ivy City, said “It’s really not my call. It’s the mayor’s call.”
The mayor’s announcement ending vaccine requirements came days after a health department official and the D.C. attorney general’s office argued in a liquor board hearing that a Northeast D.C. bar that openly defied vaccine rules should not get its license back.
The city’s Alcohol Beverage Control Board released an opinion Monday affirming the liquor license suspension of the Big Board, which had been embraced by conservatives after it refused to check vaccine cards. The opinion highlighted the risks vulnerable people face from the coronavirus.
“Without significant efforts to curb the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), such as mask requirements and proof of vaccination requirements in areas where the risk of an outbreak is high, these people may find themselves dying in the hospital waiting room due to a lack of medical staff and hospital capacity,” the opinion read.
Fritz Hahn and Scott Clement contributed to this report.