Coronavirus Vaccines Ordered For Business Entry In Salem

SALEM, MA — Salem will become the second city in Massachusetts to require proof of coronavirus vaccination to enter bars, restaurants, museums, gyms, fitness centers and other entertainment and food venues starting in January.

Two days after Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced the requirement for that city, the Salem Board of Health followed Mayor Kim Driscoll's recommendation that it should follow suit at a special meeting Wednesday night.

The vaccine order begins with the proof of at least one vaccination dose as of Jan. 15 and two doses for adults and children as young as 5 as of March 1.

The Board of Health also unanimously approved a mask mandate — which was stated to begin immediately — for all indoor businesses and public spaces. That is set to run until at least March 8, 2022, when it will be reevaluated.

Board of Health Chair Dr. Jeremy Schiller called the need for vaccine and mask orders "a terrible situation" but said he felt it necessary based on the capacity shortages at understaffed regional hospitals that will not be able to handle an additional surge of coronavirus patients if cases continue their current upward trend.

"We need to act in a way that is in concordant with what is being requested by our local hospital and our local community health center," Schiller said, "which is imploring us to do something. To me, it would be irresponsible not to do something.

"The things that we know that work — in lieu of shutting down businesses —are vaccines and masks."

According to language in the Board of Health agenda, the vaccine order applies to all indoor entertainment, recreational and event venues, including movie theaters, music or concert venues, commercial event and party venues, museums and galleries, professional sports arenas and indoor stadiums, convention center and exhibition halls, performing arts theaters, bowling alleys and other recreation centers.

It also applies to indoor food services, including indoor portions of food service establishments offering food and drink, including restaurants, bars and all indoor dining areas or food service establishments, as well as indoor gyms and fitness settings, including commercial gyms, fitness, yoga/pilates/dance studios, boxing/kickboxing gyms, fitness boot camps, indoor pools, and other facilities used for conducting group fitness classes.

The order does not apply to businesses that serve food to be consumed off-premises or outdoor-only dining, or charitable services such as soup kitchens.

The order applies to all employees of these establishments as well.

No public comment was allowed at this meeting.

Board of Health member Sara Moore acknowledged concerns the vaccine order will disproportionally affect the city's Black and Latin populations — which have lower vaccination rates than white residents — but said it is not meant to be discriminatory and is an "absolutely appropriate response."

"I do hope that it encourages people to get vaccinated," Moore said. "But from my perspective, and consistent with (Schiller), I'm listening to our local health officials and the capacity at our hospitals is obviously completely stretched thin. And that's a negative consequence for folks who are unvaccinated and are coming to the hospital with COVID, but also for folks who are showing up in the emergency department with any other range of issues.

"To me, that's a life-or-death issue. Whether or not you feel you can't go into a restaurant is not a life-or-death issue. We have vaccines available. People can make that decision for themselves."

The Salem vaccine order does not apply to grocery stores, clothing stores and other essential services.

The order is modeled after the one in Boston that is phased in over a period of two months.

Health Agent David Greenbaum said a virtual meeting will be held with local businesses to help them navigate the vaccine requirements on Jan. 4.

According to the Board's discussion, a vaccination card or cell phone picture of a vaccination card will be required for entry ahead of a potential phone app that businesses and patrons could choose to use. It was stated and confirmed at the meeting that photo ID cross-checking with the vaccine cards is not part of the order.

While the order states that every effort will be made to ensure voluntary compliance, a $300 fine is written in for repeated violations.

"I think people just have this sense of this police state kind of thing," Board of Health member Paul Kirby. "Listen, in my politics, I am sympathetic to concerns about that. That's not what this is. We're trying to incentivize people and give people additional encouragement to get vaccinated."

Schiller said both orders were the result of "a terrible situation that we find ourselves in" and slammed the state for not taking the lead on the issues of masks and vaccinations.

"No one wants to be in this situation," he said. "No one wants to be in a situation where a local Board of Health is responsible for making these decisions, because these decisions are not really being made at the state level.

"That's a failure. These decisions should be statewide or regional."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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