A protest against vaccines and vaccine passports took place in Vancouver on Wednesday, although with fewer people in attendance than a rally held last week.
Amid the protests, some leaders in B.C.’s hospitality industry have expressed concern about what might happen when the province’s vaccine card plan goes into effect next week.
“There’s been a lot of ads about this, the government has been quite clear about what’s going on,” Jeff Guignard, executive director of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees, said.
“If people are showing up and they don’t have a vaccine passport prepared, we know that they’re coming to pick a fight, and that’s fully unacceptable.”
“You will see in every restaurant and bar in British Columbia a sign that says, ‘By order of the government and by order of the provincial health officer, we have to do this,’” Ian Tostenson of the BC Restaurant Association said.
The jury is out on whether the process at the door for restaurants and bars checking vaccine cards will be straightforward or problematic. Bars and nightclubs may have an advantage as they have staff already checking IDs.
“There are some restaurants that don’t have greeters and they’re going to have to put people in,” Tostenson said.
Some businesses may hire security guards to avoid confrontations.
“We’re getting a lot of inquiries,” Michael Jagger of Provident Security said. “You don’t want to take abuse for just doing what the law says they must.”
On Tuesday, B.C. Premier John Horgan hinted the…
Read More: B.C.’s hospitality industry concerned about anger over COVID-19 vaccine
