Starting January 15, everyone older than 12 will need to present proof of receiving at least one dose of a COVID shot to enter numerous public venues in Washington, DC. Everyone older than 18 will also need to present a valid photo ID along with their vaccination card, likely to prevent fraud and make sure one is not using someone else’s card.
News on the policy introduced by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser comes as President Biden endorsed scrapping the Senate filibuster so that his party can force through legislation dubbed the “Freedom to Vote Act,” which would outlaw requirements “to submit any form of identifying document as a condition of obtaining or casting an absentee ballot” because voter ID is considered “racist.”
Requiring ID, however, does not seem to be racist when one tries to access a long list of indoor public places in the nation’s capital including food and drink establishments, cultural and entertainment establishments, exercise and recreational facilities, event and meeting establishments, and any other places as may be designated by the director of the D.C. Department of Health.
D.C. authorities prohibit businesses from accepting a negative COVID test to allow an unvaccinated person to enter an indoor venue unless that person “has a religious or medical exemption.” Unvaccinated individuals will have to provide “documentation of medical or religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine” as well as a negative PCR or antigen test from within the previous 24 hours.
Private parties held in the covered facilities will still have to follow the vax/ID and masking regulations, meaning the attendees of private events in D.C. restaurants will all have to be vaccinated (unless exempt) and masked.
People entering the designated indoor establishments to use the bathroom or pick up a to-go order are exempt from the requirement, as long as they wear “a well-fitted face covering” and only enter such an establishment “briefly.”
Starting February 15, only persons who have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or a single-dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be allowed to attend indoor public places and events.
Under the current order, people will not be required to show ID and a vax card to enter grocery stores, retail stores, places of worship, pharmacies and healthcare facilities, homeless shelters, and government offices.
While the employees of indoor public venues are exempt from the vaccination mandate for now, those businesses and organizations that fail to verify their patrons’ vax status and ID may have their business license revoked or face up to a $1,000 fine.
On Tuesday, Bowser tweeted a reminder of the upcoming requirements:
Remember that starting Saturday you will need these three things before heading out: 1. Proof of Vaccination (12 years +) 2. Proof of Vaccination and Photo ID (18 years +) 3. Mask For more information visit http://vaxdc.dc.gov.
Bowser posted a reminder on Friday:
Most of the Twitter users who responded to Bowser pointed to the hypocrisy of condemning the ID requirements for voting while supporting them for going out on the town. Under local laws, D.C. residents can cast a ballot in person on Election Day without showing an ID document.
“Dems think it’s racist to require voter ID but are happy to segregate the unvaxxed and require anyone leaving their home to have a photo ID, mask, and proof of vaccine. Big Brother Dems want to divide us. How will they enforce?” tweeted Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
“So it’s okay to require ID to buy a cheeseburger but it’s ‘racist’ to require ID to vote in an election? This is disgusting,” said Representative Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.)
“I thought showing a photo ID was Jim Crow 2.0 Oppressive and Racist Democrats!” lamented Florida congressional candidate Vic DeGrammont.
“You’ll need an ID to go inside a McDonald’s in DC, but not to vote… Beyond parody,” tweeted Tea Party Patriots.
Others mentioned the requirement is not medically justified, since the vaccines do not prevent one from getting infected and transmitting the virus to others.
“We have a trip coming up to DC and you sure are making it less appealing. This is just stupid, given that the vaccine seems not to offer significant protection against catching omicron,” said Colorado radio host Ross Kaminsky.
Back in late December, the CDC warned that with the arrival of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the “breakthrough infections” were “likely to occur” in fully vaccinated individuals.
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, admitted that Omicron “will ultimately find just about everybody,” even the vaccinated.
Omicron makes vaccine mandates obsolete, argued Nobel prize winner Luc Montagnier and American lawyer and novelist Jed Rubenfeld in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“It would be irrational, legally indefensible and contrary to the public interest for the government to mandate vaccines absent any evidence that the vaccines are effective in stopping the spread of the pathogen they target,” wrote the authors.
