Get Ready To Prove You're Vaccinated If You Want To Eat At LA Or WeHo Restaurants

Get ready to flash your vaccine card because it just got a lot harder to eat out in Los Angeles if you're not vaccinated against COVID-19.

This morning, the L.A. City Council passed a sweeping ordinance requiring customers to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination to go inside businesses such as restaurants, bars, stores, movie theaters and museums.

The measure, which won in an 11-2 vote, heads to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. He is expected to sign it, possibly as soon as today. The law will take effect 30 days after he signs it.

The ordinance has a few exemptions. People who claim to have a medical or religious reason for not getting inoculated can provide a negative coronavirus test taken within the previous 72 hours.

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Businesses that don't enforce the the rules are subject to increasing penalties — a warning for the first violation, a $1,000 fine for the second and a $5,000 fine for a fourth violation. The fines go into effect on Nov. 29.

Although this ordinance only applies to businesses within the city of Los Angeles, other localities in L.A. County can impose their own rules.

A restaurant in West Hollywood on May 29, 2020.

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Valerie Macon

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AFP via Getty Image

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Starting Thursday, Oct. 7, the city of West Hollywood is requiring certain kinds of "covered businesses" — food and drink establishments, fitness facilities and personal care establishments — to ask patrons who are 18 or older to show proof they've had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Starting Thursday, Nov. 4, patrons 18 and older as well as employees will have to prove they are fully vaccinated.

Per West Hollywood, "covered businesses" include:

1. Establishments where food or drink is served indoors, including, but not limited to; restaurants, bars, nightclubs, theaters, cannabis consumption lounges, and entertainment venues;
2. Health/Fitness facilities, including, but not limited to; gyms, recreation facilities, yoga studios, dance studios, and other fitness establishments, where any patrons engage in cardiovascular, aerobic, strength training, or other exercise involving elevated breathing; and
3. Personal Care Establishments that include businesses that offer personal care services such as but not limited to, esthetician, skin care and cosmetology services, non-medical electrology, body art professional, tattoo parlors, microblading and permanent makeup, piercing shops, massage therapy (non-healthcare), tanning services, nail salons, hair salons and barbershops.

Also starting Oct. 7, an L.A. County health order will require bars and nightclubs to ask for proof you've had the COVID-19 vaccine — although this mandate does not apply to restaurants.

Here's the upshot: Get vaccinated and keep proof of your vaccine — whether it's digital or on paper — handy.