The implementation of “health pass”, which reserves access to certain public places for people vaccinated against the coronavirus, cured or negative, gains ground in the world and has already been in force for weeks in Austria, Denmark and France, and from this Monday also in New York.
From Monday, visitors to New York City museums, art fairs and art galleries now must show proof of vaccination against coronavirus.
The new measure, which applies to both employees and visitors to institutions such as museums, concert halls, aquariums, gyms, cinemas, convention centers and zoos, is part of the so-called “Key to NYC Pass”, which regulates access to interior facilities.
A sign indicates a Covid vaccination site outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Photo Gabby Jones / Bloomberg
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New York thus becomes the first city of the great American metropolis to create a health pass.
Amid an increase in cases, the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, announced the pass week, which has been in force since yesterday.
“If you are not vaccinated, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many things,” De Blasio said.
A measure to encourage vaccination
The Mayor hopes this measure will encourage New Yorkers to get vaccinated and fight the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant. (Other efforts to encourage New Yorkers to get vaccinated include payments of $ 100 in exchange for receiving the vaccine at a city-run site.)
Vaccinated people will be able to show that they are indeed showing it by their vaccination card through an application. There will be a month of readjustment and from September 13 they will begin to be charged fines from $ 1,000 for non-compliance.
“We fully support the city’s efforts to encourage vaccinations for visitors and staff,” Kenneth Weine, communications director for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, told Artnet News.
In New York, people get the coronavirus vaccine on a bus. Photo Spencer Platt / Getty Images / AFP
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“The Met has been open without interruption for a year, even during the pandemic, and keeping staff and visitors safe is our top priority. The mayor is right that the only path to continued progress is higher vaccination rates. “
In announcing the new provisions, De Blasio referred to the concern on the part of museums that the measure will become an additional burden for the public to attend cultural spaces, just in a year in which they have been seriously affected financially. for the pandemic.
“This is an additional step without a doubt, we are going to work with them. Our art and our culture define us, and the return of the arts and culture gave people hope, ”he said.
MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States. Photo: Shutterstock
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In the case of children under 12 years of age who are not yet vaccinated, they can visit the covered facilities with an adult who is.
The New York Health Pass for Indoor Activities was the first to be implemented in the United States and follows similar requirements in France and Italy.
Other cities have begun to follow De Blasio’s example. San Francisco will require vaccination for restaurants, bars, gyms and entertainment venues beginning August 20. In New Orleans, visitors to restaurants, bars, and other enclosed places will be required to show vaccination records or a recent negative Covid test as of Aug. 23.
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