New York City’s Vaccine Mandate Is Over for Restaurants, and Workers Aren’t Sure How to Feel

In September of 2021, New York became the first U.S. city to require at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in order to dine indoors, with bars and restaurants continuing to ask for proof of vaccination even after New York state lifted its mandate. All that ended on March 7, however, when vaccine requirements for most indoor venues around the city were dropped. “COVID is still here, but we are beating it back,” Mayor Eric Adams said last week. “It’s time to open our city and get the economy back operating.”

While the idea of throwing caution to the wind and returning to a pre-COVID state of affairs in the city’s many restaurants and bars is deeply exciting, the reality isn’t quite so simple. Combined with the recent lifting of most mask mandates in New York City, the end of vaccine requirements will almost certainly expose restaurant workers—who are already particularly vulnerable to coronavirus, and often have no paid sick leave with which to safely isolate and recover from infection—to a higher risk of contracting the disease.

Moises Mendez II, who balances journalism with a second job as a restaurant host, has worked in nine different restaurants over the course of his career—some with “terrible management and terrible owners,” he notes—but says his current coworkers at Madame Vo in the East Village are like family. His feelings for his colleagues are part of why he opposes the end of the vaccine mandate. “It felt a little more secure being in our space with people who were vaccinated, but this just feels like the biggest slap in the face,” he says. “We restaurant workers still have to be vaccinated, but the people who come in and dine don’t have to, so it feels like the only thing that Mayor Adams cares about his profit.”

Mendez notes that as a host, the task of confirming a diner’s vaccination status generally falls to him, and it’s not one he tends to relish. “It’s the most annoying part of the job and, quite honestly, my least favorite, because people will stumble around and try to get past you without showing their vax card.” Still, Mendez is sorry to see the requirement go. “It’s kind of cliché, but you know when people say they have a ‘full house’ at a restaurant? The thing is, it is like a house, and you’re trying to welcome people into a space that feels safe. Not being able to ensure that everyone feels safe is really difficult.”