As of September 13, if you want to do something indoors in NYC, you must show proof of vaccination.

There are various apps that one can use to download their information. I chose the one where you take a picture of your card and your id, and it’s easy to slide from one to the other.

How is this working so far?

Technically, we needed to start showing ID as of two weeks ago. 9/13 was the start date for random checks of businesses actually checking ID, and fines to begin for those who don’t comply. So there was a two week window to get the kinks out…

The reality?

I went to the US Open last week. I think I could have displayed my library card for the amount of attention that the attendant paid to looking at it. I guess BJK Tennis Center is largely outdoors, so maybe they felt they didn’t need to be as stringent. Of course, with the threat of rain that evening, the roof closed at about 11pm. I’d say five people did as requested and donned their masks…

But…

Will places that are crowded be less inclined to give a real, hard look at ID?

The Brooklyn Botanic Gift Shop, on the other hand did a quite thorough examination of my ID. I didn’t have the app at that point, but the clerk flipped over both my license and vax card. Looked at me and looked at my picture about ten times. I’ve had physicals were I have received less scrutiny than the amount of attention paid to my ID…

The 19th Street movie theater actually asked to see my actual vax card…apparently the app that is good enough for NYC is not good enough for her… Her reasoning was that it wasn’t a good photo and she couldn’t actually see the info.

The photo that was good enough for every single place I had been that asked for ID…

Really?

I gave her the “Mom Look”.

How hard are you supposed to look at ID?

And you see there lies the problem- are we giving people too much power to randomly deny someone entry to something?

Does it become too easy to say “Access Denied”?

The whole point of checking is to make sure that everyone is vaxxed, and if you have a suspicion that something is not on the up and up, doesn’t the person checking have the right to deny you entry?

So, if you follow that path, are there going to be people that are denied entry to things entirely based on the discretion of some Vax Card bouncer?

This is bound to get really interesting.

80 thoughts on “Anything Can Happen Friday: Checking ID”

  1. Isn’t it just (going to get really interesting)! I think the toughest part is going to be for establishments where low paid workers have to deal with “reluctant” customers over showing their info. Sigh.

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    1. I was at a museum where a patron got into it with a security guard about the difference between touching a work of art and tapping a work of art. People will argue anything

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    1. But the whole point is to not have to carry it. And, it’s supposed to be on an app because it’s too easy to pass the card around. There’s all sorts of holes with this

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    2. David You are so right! I wish we had that kind of leadership in Florida. It would save lives. But almost half of our population would be protesting, and throwing things, screaming ridiculous nonsense about how science is a lie, and our governor doesn’t care how many people die from a covid variant. At least where you live they are attempting to save lives. In Fl our governor just wants to kill everyone who might not vote for him. It’s insanity. I’ll take your insanity over Florida’s craziness any day.

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      1. I loved Ten Rings! It’s probably my favorite Marvel movie now. I’m so glad they actually used Chinese inspirations (and respectfully so) and had the characters speaking a lot of Mandarin. I’m not surprised that the studio was all, “we’re not sure how well this will do because the actors aren’t white, but we’ll give it a try”, because studio execs are idiots. It’s great to see it doing so well.

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  6. I think that if it is required that they should give everyone a card with a chip in it so that scanners can check to see if it is valid, just like a credit card.

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      6. Can’t penalize someone who is ineligible. That’s discrimination. But Think of it like this. I am pro the very strict no smoking policies that we enforce here. It’s totally against someone’s right. Yet I like that I can go most places and people aren’t allowed to smoke. I’m also pretty fond of laws against drunk driving and driving while texting. We can argue the seat belt law much the same way. I also don’t love going through a metal detector to go places. But people have every right to fight whatever they don’t like. And should if it’s the hill they want to stand on.

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      7. I’m fine with no smoking and no DWI laws and even seatbelts because those are backed by logic . My question is how is it safe to allow unvaccinated children , but not unvaccinated adults ? Is this about safety or is it a punishment for those who won’t comply ?

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      8. That’s the 64000$ question. But we do have laws that are supposed to protect people.any people do not like these laws…many don’t comply…like kids getting fake I’d to drink. We’ve made this political. But as I told River, my aim is to piss off both sides as much as possible because it’s all tic tac toe in the end. Put your X’s and your O’s but who really wins if we keep playing?

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    1. Ha. I can play both sides of this coin, if you know what I mean. But when we give power to people who might not have had any before…things will happen…it’s very easy to have your side and respond “appropriately “. However…you know what happens to the best of intentions when actual humans get involved….

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      3. One a more serious note, I think many people have a difficult time seeing that there are multiple issues at play here. There is distinction even between an injection mandate and forcing businesses to require that their patrons provide them with private medical information. All aspects of this have been packaged up into a generic us vs them narrative. Many people seem to have forgotten that two things can be true at the same time and those two things can contradict themselves.

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  11. Here in the UK no one bothers to wear masks anymore, we’re told vaccination ID is coming but no idea when? Or the places they’ll be required. To their credit ‘BoJo’s’ government threw all resources including ‘kitchen sink’s at vaccinations and it’s been a success, and incredibly amazingly Britain’s led the world, I know I still can’t believe it! Herd immunity, vaccination and an understanding we’ll all contract COVID at some point is how we’ll live with a circulating virus……………perhaps subconsciously we Brits learnt the lessons from the great plagues and Black Death of the 1600s!

    To be serious very early on our public health experts realised suppression would never ever work, turns out to have been a disastrous policy in Australia. The virus is here to stay, it will circulate for years to come and I think we Brits are resigned to knowing ALL will contract the virus at some point. I personally know 5 people who’ve contracted the virus, they all felt unwell for a few days but all survived and it doesn’t appear to be a big deal over here, in fact as of today most positives in hospitals are from people who couldn’t be bothered to vaccinate.

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      1. I had to look that one up in the Dictionary LA! ‘Endemic: A disease regularly found among particular people or in a certain area’……….yep, COVID’s here to stay so live your lives accordingly.

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  12. In Berkeley I had to show my vaccination card to get into a Thai restaurant. But they didn’t check ID. Yesterday, I helped a friend who is out of town and sat at her house to receive delivery of a washer and dryer. They asked for my ID at the entrance to her development! But not my vaccine card. I have another question. Many people have natural immunity due to having COVID. The young Olympian Michael Andrew comes to mind. He doesn’t want the vaccine because he had antibodies and there are side effects to it for young men with their hearts. Should they be excluded from events and restaurants because they aren’t vaccinated, but they have natural immunity?

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    1. The natural immunity thing has been debated. I know people literally doing anti body testing over and over again. There’s no good answer to any of this. However, covid is going to be part of our lives forever. As I told Andrew, it’s endemic. Once you accept that you have to figure out what you want to do.

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      1. I know one person who refuses the vaccine. I’ve asked her why which is a touchy place to go. She works at a school and has to get a nasal swab once a week. She’s worried about side effects, which as a woman in her 50s aren’t the same as for a young male.

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      2. There are risks to both sides and we can toss stats around all day. I am a strong proponent of my body my choice. But I understand why some places are mandating it

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  13. First, I have to laugh…hahahaha, that line about checking you ID and physical exams was epic…anyway, yes, agreed, bound to get very interesting. My assumption, which you are confirming, is that there are going to be a million different processes that businesses and organizations will put together to conduct these screenings, which is going to cause confusion and irritated people. And, then there are the businesses and organizations that don’t put a process together…harder…however, I would rather have the mandatory vax policy put in place where I live and be denied entry to a place, than not have it…

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  14. We’ve been to four events at 3 different locations where our proof was required. Every single one was done thoroughly, checking both my ID and my vax card. All were also done smoothly, taking no more than a minute or two each. There were no long lines and I heard no complaining. We’ve been lucky so far I guess.

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  16. I understand places wanting to see proof that people have been vaccinated but isn’t that against the law? I mean aren’t they breaking HIPAA Laws by asking you for your personal medical information? So far where I live we haven’t had to show proof. I will happily show proof of mine I just don’t think anyone should have the right to my personal medical information.

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    1. Technically, hipaa protects a doctor from sharing your information with anyone. Someone can ask you, and you have the right to refuse. However, a private business can have rules…age restrictions, type of clothing, etc. that being said, I’m sure we are about to have law suits, for any variety of reasons

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      2. Trust me…there are still all sorts of nuances in this…and a good lawyer can find the loophole in anything. My daughter said there’s also language in the civil rights act that could sway this question…but yeah…it’s an interesting concept

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    1. I’m Delray and both sides of this issue, however, I ask myself if 100 years ago we would have had these issues…which leads me to say this is all political. And nothing done for that reason is any good

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  18. I am struggling here. Whenever I hear about the right to keep your medical records secret I wonder what skeletons are lurking in the closet and start to weave a Gothic tale of secrecy and shame around the facts.

    Frankly, I’m envious, as my medical records are, in general, very dull.

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      2. I am presently sitting with a hot water bottle on. The worst part is they come and go. I can be fine for three weeks, and then for three weeks I’m in agony. Everyone assumed I was having some sort of stomach thing, but no…just an abdominal wall hernia…😆

        Liked by 1 person

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