Prominent restaurateurs in New York City say that the city’s controversial COVID-19 vaccine passport has caused business to drop between 40% and 60%. Worse, one says the customers being asked for the vaccine passport, or even turned away, are beginning to resent the restaurant and its staff for following policy created by Gov. Bill De Blasio, according to The Epoch Times.
Fergal Burke, the owner of O’Donoghue’s Pub and Restaurant, told The Epoch Times that his business saw “a massive drop” after the vaccine mandate became effective. He said that, without the “help of our landlord,” the business would have closed.
Burke added that customers “being refused” entry due to failure to provide a vaccine passport “get a resentment” toward the restaurant, but not “against Bill de Blasio or Biden, or whoever is mandating us to check for this.” He added that customers perceive being denied business based on their medical history “as a personal rejection.”
Another restauranteur, Stratis Morfogen of Brooklyn Chop House, said “Business is down 50% because people are not comfortable with being forced to take a vaccine.” Morfogen also pointed out that it is extremely easy to fake a paper vaccination card.
A third told The Epoch Times that “everyone is losing thousands of dollars” because of the vaccine mandate, and some are likely to go out of business. They added, “The mayor is a jerk.” (READ MORE: New York’s Vaccine Passport Reportedly Has ‘Massive Security Flaws,’ Is Barely Functional)
New York’s various vaccine mandates and passport system appears to have caused a severe crunch in the state’s productivity. As nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers were fired en masse earlier this week due to their refusal to take one of the controversial vaccines, the state was forced to call in the National Guard to help provide basic healthcare. Elsewhere in the state, doctors stopped delivering babies due to the staff shortage created by the vaccine mandate.
New York City’s decision to require a vaccine passport for entry into most restaurants and many buildings has been one of the most controversial policies to make it to the United States, with some Americans comparing the passport to those seen in Italy, France, and Israel.
The move is so unpopular that a “business rebellion” against the vaccine passport system was launched by a man National File spoke to in early September. The campaign includes flowers that inform visitors “We do not discriminate against any customer based on sex, gender, race, creed, age, vaccinated or unvaccinated,” and adds that the business presenting it is “welcome” to “all customers.”
@arihasanaj Discord link in bio. We need help I can’t do this alone