Things like this make you wonder where public health ends and government mandates begin? The Daily Wire reported that as of Tuesday, February 15, Boston residents and tourists 12 years old and up will need proof of having received two COVID-19 vaccine shots in order to enter certain indoor facilities, such as indoor restaurants, bars, nightclubs, gyms, movie theaters, and more.
In December, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) announced that the city would be starting new COVID-19 restrictions, including requiring all city employees to receive two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and that many indoor spaces would need to require patrons and visitors to as well, in the new year. That announcement was met immediately with protests from city employee unions, business owners, and residents alike. Wu implied that opposition to the mandates were fueled by racism.
“I’ve grown up my whole life knowing what it feels like to feel invisible or othered, and this is an experience that far too many Americans share,” Wu told GBH in December. “Standing at the podium, hearing the demonstrators who were opposing our policies singing patriotic songs and chanting ‘USA’ — the message was clear that we don’t belong here in their eyes, and shouldn’t be trying to take away something that they perceive they have and are losing.”
According to Boston’s government site, the mandate isn’t ‘forever’ as they offer some very open-ended stipulations:
The City’s current proof of vaccination requirement — also known as B Together — will be lifted when the following conditions are met:
- Fewer than 95% of ICU beds are occupied
- Fewer than 200 COVID-19 hospitalizations per day
- A community positivity rate below 5%, as defined by the Boston Public Health Commission’s seven-day moving average
Were ICU units consistently 95% empty before the pandemic? I know that pre-2020 every ICU I visited was decently occupied. It just concerns me that the site did not specify “with Covid patients” in their requirement list.