‘The right thing.’ NC governor praises restaurants requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccine
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper visited a Carrboro restaurant Thursday that requires diners eating inside to be fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, saying the mandate will be good for business.
Pizzeria Mercato is one of several Triangle restaurants that require patrons to show proof of vaccination for indoor dining.
Cooper, a Democrat, has encouraged private employers and businesses to require vaccinations for employees and customers. Several entertainment venues and large-scale events also are implementing vaccination requirements or proof of a negative COVID-19 test.
Mae-Lyn Leonard, a server and bartender at Pizzeria Mercato, checked vaccination cards at the door as people entered. She said they’ve been checking for them since Aug. 12. Employees are also vaccinated.
“Customers have been great — super supportive, super receptive,” she said. “If anything, I think we’ve gotten busier.”
The restaurant did take-out only most of the pandemic, she said, then opened in June for dine-in service.
At the time the restaurant announced the requirement, Pizzeria Mercato owner Gabe Barker told The News & Observer that the restaurant industry “has changed forever.”
“The people who kept me in business, who ordered takeout every single week for most of the last year, I don’t want them to feel like they can’t feel safe in my restaurant,” he told The N&O.
Thursday, Barker showed Cooper around the restaurant and kitchen. Barker said they’ve had an “amazing” response from the Carrboro community and that people can walk in the door and “feel comfortably safe.”
Cooper told Barker he was proud of him.
“You are doing the right thing. I believe it will be good for business,” said Cooper, who was joined by state lawmakers and local officials.
Cooper’s visit comes as the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of slowing down and the more contagious delta variant infects more people. Thursday, the state reported over 8,600 new COVID cases, the highest since mid-January, The News & Observer reported. The state hit a milestone as well when it reported 883 adults in intensive care units at the state’s hospitals — the highest since the pandemic began in March 2020, The N&O reported.
The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 has tripled in August, The N&O reported. Vaccines are available across the state for those age 12 and older. North Carolina has administered 10.3 million vaccine doses. About 60% of adults are fully vaccinated.
No state mandates
But Cooper is not issuing any new statewide restrictions to respond to the pandemic, such as mask mandates or capacity restrictions.
He told reporters Thursday that while “everything’s on the table” for any future statewide restrictions, that local buy-in for any protocols is important.
“I think as we see this delta variant spread, if we can get more and more buy-in from all kinds of institutions and businesses and employers on getting people vaccinated, the better off we’re going to be,” Cooper said.
Cooper let the last of the statewide executive orders expire at the end of July, allowing local governments to implement mask mandates and any other coronavirus-related restrictions.
In recent weeks, he has said the state’s focus is on getting more people vaccinated.
He said his administration could look at incentives for businesses requiring vaccinations, like what Pizzeria Mercato does, but that restaurants are already benefiting from customers coming there because of owners’ decisions.
He also said he would not require school systems to mandate teacher vaccinations. He said those decisions are better made at the local level, where teachers are employed.
He said the goal is to continue to keep students in school, in person, and that masks and getting more people vaccinated is the way to do that.
Cooper said he is also supportive if UNC starts requiring college students to get vaccinated.
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger told The News & Observer Thursday that the town has a “community that trusts science.”
“They believe in being proactive and they wanted to be safe, so it was a little easier to get compliance in this community,” she said.
Chapel Hill is home to the flagship UNC campus and UNC Health.
“We’re all in this together, and working together on this as well,” Hemminger said.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 4:52 PM with the headline "‘The right thing.’ NC governor praises restaurants requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccine."