No vaccine? No entry | Westside Seattle

By Olivia Palmer

For those looking to have a drink, Ballard Station’s public house has a simple message: no vaccine, no entry fee.

The bar on Northwest Market Street in Ballard was one of the first in town to make a decision to prescribe vaccines in late July. Now all guests, including those sitting outside, must provide proof of a vaccination card with a physical vaccination card or photo of it along with ID.

Jesse Young, the owner of the bar, said the main motivating factor behind the decision was a safety concern.

“At [this] “We believe the best way to be safe is to eliminate the possibility of the disease spreading inside the bar,” said Young. “The goal is to get through this and to keep people employed, and that no one gets sick, no patrons get sick, no employees get sick.”

The decision comes as King County is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the Delta variant of the virus. In an August 5 media briefing, King County health officer Dr. Jeff Duchin, averaged 344 cases of COVID-19 per day the previous week – roughly twice what it was during the peak of last summer.

Duchin said those infected with the Delta variant are significantly more contagious and have been over a longer period of time. With unvaccinated people five times more likely to become infected with the virus, 11 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19, Duchin said the best way for people to protect themselves and others is by themselves to be fully vaccinated. According to a statement from King County Public Health:

Vaccines are our most powerful weapon in protecting against serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. Policies from private sector companies that promote and encourage vaccination in their customers help protect the health of their employees, customers, and communities. It is encouraging to see so many King County’s food and beverage companies taking a proactive stance in making sure their facilities are as safe as possible and helping to promote social norms around vaccination.

Despite being back in business, Young said navigating the Ballard Station public house wasn’t easy during the pandemic.

From March 2020, the bar was closed for around a year. While Young continued to pay for his employees’ health insurance and keep himself afloat financially with the help of the community, reopening it was still a challenging process.

“I was there five days a week,” said Young. “I literally told them [my staff], all the hard work starts now that we reopen. “

In deciding whether or not to require proof of vaccination, Young said safety is his top priority. He spoke to his family first, then to his co-workers.

“Ideally, the entire team makes this decision,” said Young. “We had a short conversation:… As an employee, do you feel safer when you have just vaccinated people in the bar, especially during the bar service? And everyone said yes. So they rule the ship, we rule the ship, that’s our decision. “

Young said the community response has been mostly pleasant.

Jonathan Cats, a community member from the Green Lake neighborhood, has visited the bar a couple of times. As a business colleague who makes music for clubs and parties, he said he supported the Ballard Station Public House’s decision to require vaccines.

“I think that would ultimately make me feel safest,” said Cats. “And Seattle is a very heavily vaccinated area, so I already feel an increased level of security just living here. But I think these restrictions make it a bit easier, and they send this message: We will do everything we can to protect our community and stay open, and these people are enough to keep us afloat and keep our business thriving . “

As Washington reopens and government-imposed restrictions ease, corporations begin to take control of public safety. While companies have different approaches to COVID-19 precautions – some choose to require masks and others require vaccines – Young said the most important thing to him is that they make choices.

“We’ve been led for so long and wanted to finally make our own decision and that’s what we got,” said Young. “In a positive sense, we can all move forward and make our own decisions to ensure the safety of our employees and our guests. When people are bar hoping and people are doing all these things and there is nowhere, it hurts us. That harms us as a bar community or simply as a restaurant community. People have to do something; they have to make the choice to go one way or the other. “

Young said that this new autonomy comes with tough choices: As a 1,450 square foot space with limited patio area, the bar cannot provide accommodation for people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

While Young said that aspect of the decision weighs on him, he also said that he believes it is important to enforce vaccine policy, especially because some guests come to the bar specifically to request the vaccine. Lately, he said, the bar has seen several patrons who are parents from areas outside of town like Kirkland.

“[They] Come on a date and to get away from the kids, have a good time, ”said Young. “They come to Ballard just because they know they have unvaccinated children and they haven’t got a chance to get vaccinated yet. And they feel good knowing that they can go out, be with people who are also vaccinated, go home and feel more secure. “

Looking to the future, Young said it will be critical to continue listening to the experts and being able to adapt.

“You watch and listen and ask the experts. That’s all i do I don’t make the decision at the end of the day, ”said Young. “If that doesn’t work, I have to visit again, I have to find out what works, look around the community. All right, do masks work? Maybe we both do both, maybe we closed for a while, right? Safety will come first at the end of the day. “

While Young sees a day in the future when a vaccine mandate is not needed, that day is not today. Until COVID-19 is no longer a threat, it only makes sense for him to continue to take precautions.

Duchin had similar news.

“This is not a normal year, this is nowhere near a normal year, and everyone needs to understand whether or not vaccinated … there is a lot of COVID everywhere right now,” said Duchin. “I know this is such a marathon. We’ve been around for so long. This pandemic continues to challenge us. But right now our outbreak is evolving. Our understanding is evolving, and so must our actions to evolve to reflect the reality of our pandemic. “

Duchin said community members can reduce the spread of the virus not only by vaccinating them, but also by being aware of their own risk and exposure levels and taking extra safety measures like wearing masks in public indoor spaces.

If there is a message that Young has for the community, it is to be kind, especially to staff members who have been asked to enforce COVID-19 precautions.

“It’s about a lot more than just the job requirements and the tasks required,” said Young. “We ask them to adapt and spread out more and have interesting conversations that in their wildest dreams would never have to be had.”

With the Ballard Station Public House and a growing list of other businesses in Ballard and across Seattle in need of vaccines, Young hopes to be an example when the community pulls out of the pandemic.

“Our church, our area, it was great. It was great, ”said Young. “I just know that this is not the case everywhere. So I just hope that people are safe and have the feeling that they can say something and make a difference. “