People dining indoors at New York City's restaurants, browsing art at its museums or sweating in its gyms had to show proof Tuesday that they were at least partially inoculated against COVID-19 as the city began the nation's largest effort yet to exclude the unvaccinated from public places.
Signs on the front door and windows of The Stop Inn, a Queens diner, warned patrons arriving for breakfast that they had to show proof of at least one vaccine shot to be allowed to dine inside.
Still, Norbu Lama, 17, said he was surprised when a server politely asked for his vaccination card soon after he slid into a booth with his parents and younger sister.
A Katz's Deli employee checks proof of vaccination from customers looking to eat at the legendary Lower East Side restaurant Tuesday, the first day of the city's stricter rules
'We didn't know we had to bring it,' he said. The server appeared relieved when Lama and his family presented copies of their vaccination cards on their phone, Lama said.
The vaccination mandate, announced two weeks ago by Mayor Bill de Blasio, aims to persuade more people to get vaccinated or else miss out on city amenities like restaurants, bars, gyms, public performances, museums and other venues.
The measures are also fraught with complications, as restaurant servers, bartenders and ticket agents become the frontline enforcers for vaccination rules. Skittish about losing business, but mindful that another economic shutdown could be disastrous, some restaurant and bar owners are embracing the the mandates as a way to control the virus and keep their doors open.
Avner Balkany, 56, shows his vaccination card while waiting to enter the Museum of Modern Art. He said he was unaware of the city's new vaccination rules but would have nevertheless been prepared to show proof that he was vaccinated
Others - particularly in parts of the city where people have resisted getting the vaccine - worry it will be a last, fatal blow to businesses that were excluded from having patrons inside at all for months last year.
'We do not want to go back to restrictions,' de Blasio said at a virtual news conference Tuesday. 'The key to our progress is vaccination.'
Since early August, more than 300,000 more people have gotten at least one shot of a vaccine, according to city data. At least 5.2 million of the city´s 8.8 million residents have gotten at least one shot, with nearly 5 million fully vaccinated.
From now on, New York City residents are required to show CDC vaccination record cards as proof of immunity from COVID if they want to go inside restaurants, museums and many other indoor venues
The number of people getting shots has ticked upward again in the city as the more contagious delta variant that has fueled a surge in infections and hospitalizations.
As the delta variant poses a growing threat, some cities and states, as well as the federal government, have moved more aggressively to get more people inoculated or have them face consequences such as regular testing or losing access to elements of public life.
Since New York City made its announcement, San Francisco and New Orleans have followed suit with policies to exclude the unvaccinated from some businesses. Los Angeles is considering similar measures. All are led by Democratic mayors, underscoring the political divide over mandates on vaccines, masks and other measures.
A sign posted on Ivan Ramen restaurant's window on the Lower East Side says all customers over the age of 12 must show proof of vaccination to dine indoors per NYC's new mandate
New York City's new rules went into effect Tuesday, but it won't begin fining businesses that don't comply until Sept. 13, offering a grace period for implementation.
The Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday was not requiring visitors to show proof of vaccination. A ticket agent said he didn't know when the requirement was supposed to start.
Avner Balkany, visiting from Israel with his family, said he was unaware of the city's new rules but would have been prepared anyway, as he reached for his wallet to show his vaccination card.
Announcements of the city's efforts to ask people to get vaccinated against COVID are posted like at Grand Central Station
'We have to persuade as many people as possible to get vaccinated,' he said. 'I know this is problematic - people's rights - but, still, this is an emergency, In an emergency, you have to take aggressive measures,'
New York City averaged 2,000 new cases of the coronavirus a day over the past seven days, up from around 200 a day in late June.
A $10 million media blitz was also launching Tuesday as part of the city's visitor outreach. The mayor announced that about 100 vaccination sites will pop up at such places as gyms and that the city would send out over 600 canvassers to help.
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said his group was fully behind the effort. In return for the industry's cooperation, he called on officials to replenish financial aid to still-struggling restaurants.
Leon Ellis, the owner of Chocolate, a restaurant in the city's Harlem neighborhood, said the sacrifices are needed to keep the virus from wreaking more havoc on businesses like his.
'This COVID is a big deal. So we need to do everything that we can to make sure that we get it in check,' he said.
Ellis knows there are details he and his staff still need to work out to fully comply with new rules, but he also knows enforcement won't begin for several more weeks.
'I still have to do my research on it,' he said. 'But whatever the guidelines are, we will comply.'
Border Patrol agents seize thousands of fake COVID vaccine cards shipped from China flooding into US cities
Fake vaccination cards shipped from China and disguised as greeting cards have flooded into the U.S. as cities begin to impose new restrictions against those who are not vaccinated.
US Customs and Border Protection agents seized more than 3,000 of the bogus cards mailed from China to New Orleans on Aug. 13.
The agency was on the lookout for the fake cards after monitoring a shipping hub in Memphis, Tennessee, where at least 15 parcels carrying the counterfeit papers were sent, The Washington Post reported.
'If you do not wish to receive a vaccine, that is your decision. But don't order a counterfeit, waste my officer's time, break the law, and misrepresent yourself,' Michael Neipert, CBP area port director of Memphis, said in a statement.
The US Customs and Border Protection has caught more than 3,000 fake COVID-19 vaccine cards going through a central shipping hub in Memphis, Tennessee
The cards often have spelling errors and improper Spanish translations on the back. Officials say the shipments come from China and are bound for cities across the US
The shipments were described as 'Paper Greeting Cards/Use For-Greeting Card,' or 'PAPER PAPER CARD' and were always from China, CBP officials said. They are filled with misspellings and improper translations.
In a statement, the agency added that 'This was not the first time they had seen this shipper,' noting the fake cards were being transported inside a non-CDC or medical vehicle.
The demand for fake cards comes amid stricter rules being implemented by cities around the country as the Delta variant is sparking a resurgence of COVID cases.
On Monday, New Orleans residents needed to provide proof of vaccination or negative COVID test results to enter bars, restaurants, music halls, the Superdome, casinos and other indoor facilities starting, with full enforcement beginning on Aug, 23.
New York and Los Angeles will require residents to have at least one shot before entering indoor restaurants, gyms and entertainment businesses
But LA will take it one step further and include 'retail establishments.'
San Francisco's mandate is even more stringent, insisting full vaccination - not just one dose - for customers and employees at restaurants, gyms and other indoor venues.
No city has given a clear indication on how the mandates will be enforced.
Some of the most populous cities in the US have begun issuing mandates to exclude the unvaccinated from indoor venues. It is unclear how they will be enforced
More signs like these have sprung up in New Orleans, informing customers that they need to present vaccine cards to enter the restaurants
A face vaccine card versus a real, government issued card. The counterfeits are very similar, but can sometimes have spelling errors or missing information, such as the date
Last week, New York's Attorney General Letitia James issued a warning that anyone caught using fake vaccine cards would face criminal charges.
'As the Delta variant becomes more prominent, it is more important than ever for New Yorkers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
'Not only do fake and fraudulently-completed vaccination cards violate federal and state laws and the public trust, but they also put the health of our communities at risk and potentially prolong this public health crisis.'
On Sunday, New York Senator Chuck Schumer called for a federal crackdown on face vaccine cards, demanding the CBP and FBI partner with the Department of Health and Human Services to start to put an end to the counterfeits, CBS reports.
The unauthorized use of these cards, which have seals of an official government agency, is a federal crime that carries a maximum of five years in prison.
The FBI first issued a statement about fake vaccination cards in March.
Most are being sold on Telegram, an encrypted site that is favored among people who don't trust typical Silicon Valley giants like Facebook and Twitter.
On Telegram, people can buy vaccine cards that are approved by the CDC or NHS from anywhere between $25 and $400, The Associated Press reports.
Even cities without mandates have seen a frenzy of residents looking to get their hands on fake vaccine cards.
On Telegram, a group called 'Texas Vaccination Card CDC' has more than 4,000 members interested in buying fake cards and fit-to-fly certificates from anonymous sellers, Kxan, an NBC affiliate, reports.
Another group called 'Fake Vaccine Cards,' has 73,122 members.
'Watch out and stay away from the vaccine its poisonous,' one seller wrote on the website. 'Get your cards without taking the vaccine and stay safe.'
Twitter and Facebook are controlling searches for it by directing anyone who searches 'vaccine card' to official government websites.
Norbert Chung and his son Trevor Chung were both arrested on Sunday, Aug. 8, at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport after arriving with fake vaccine cards to vacation
Todd Anderson, a bar owner in California, was arrested for selling cards like these earlier this year which he filled out
Anderson, the owner of the Old Corner Saloon bar in Clements, California, now faces federal charges
Higher learning institutions are also worried about their students using fake cards as at least 675 colleges and universities will require proof of COVID vaccines to attend classes.
'As with anything that potentially requires a certification, there is the possibility for an individual to falsify documentation,' said Michael Uhlenkamp, a spokesman for the chancellor's office at California State University. The school system, which is the largest in the nation, oversees about 486,000 students each year on 23 campuses.
Benjamin Mason Meier, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, questioned how institutions can verify the current vaccine cards.
'The United States, unlike most countries which have electronic systems in place, is basing its vaccination on a flimsy paper card,' he told The AP.
Meier added that he spoke with several students who knew a fellow student who had submitted a fake card to the university.
'There need to be policies in place for accountability to make sure that every student is operating in the collective interest of the entire campus,' he said.