Proof of Vaccination or Negative COVID Test required for theme parks soon?

[smooch]

Sorta random but does this all feel unreal in a way at times? It feels so strange knowing how life was before COVID and now knowing it'll be something we have to at least think about forever likely with staying up to date with booster shots. I don't have harsh mandates where I live anymore, you have to wear a mask indoors if you're unvaccinated but they don't check your card when entering so anyone can just not wear a mask. I have gone out to eat indoors, I attended a music festival in Oakland a month and a half ago with thousands of people packed together like pre-pandemic days where masks were encouraged but not required (I wore mine all day aside from eating / drinking since I was packed so tight around so many people, had to prove vaccination or negative COVID test), attended an indoor concert with a few hundred people (again packed like pre-pandemic but I wore a mask indoors, was "required" but not enforced at all, had to prove vaccination / couldn't just show negative test), and even traveled by plane and I haven't caught COVID, or at least was never aware if I did but was asymptomatic. I am 100% back to living life, but I am still cautious. I usually wear my mask in an outdoor shopping area near me but sometimes if it's not busy I go maskless outdoors but prefer to wear it indoors. I wear my mask at work (not required anymore, but I work the front desk and interact with lots of random people since I greet clients / receive packages and stuff) but don't care if other people don't wear theirs since it's my choice to wear my mask there. I don't care what other people do at this point, I wear KF94 masks and feel if I wear my own I am protecting myself from others, even if masks are more effective at stopping transmission than being infected.

I feel we would be best off if as many people would get vaccinated, if that means events / stores require vaccination then so be it. I got 2 shots months ago and have been able to surround myself with thousands of people singing at the top of their lungs blowing their air particles everywhere and didn't get sick, COVID or otherwise. I don't see how asking citizens to get a free vaccine available very very easily during a global pandemic is infringing on freedoms. When we aren't getting enough people to get vaccinated to reach herd immunity and start moving out of the pandemic stage of this all I think it makes sense to put requirements on entertainment / etc. events to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

At the end of the day, I am still cautious of COVID but don't live in fear. My mom freaks out about COVID numbers all the time and it annoys me at this point, I am going out and doing things I did pre-pandemic but wear a mask in crowds to make myself feel safe, but I don't judge people not wearing their masks. Life is on track to being closer to normal, but we can't just ignore COVID or we will lose the progress we have made. It's been almost 2 years at this point which feels crazy to me, that I can remember not worrying about any of this but it's been so long now that I'm just used to life with COVID. I used to wear a cloth mask in big groups sometimes even before the pandemic, I will probably choose to continue to do so even once COVID is under control because I have not even gotten a cold or the flu or anything since I started wearing a mask. Sorry for the random word vomit, just wanted to share my experience with having returned to regular life and attending events and doing things that were not possible a year ago cause of the pandemic and how I feel. It's so easy to show my vaccination proof from my Apple Wallet and enter the concerts / fly / etc. and go about enjoying the event. It was quicker to prove I was vaccinated at the festival than it was to get my ID checked to prove I could buy alcohol.

 

[Dear Prudence]

Hopefully all turns out well for you!

Thank you! Nothing is stopping me from going back to Disneyland

 

[cmwade77]

Sorta random but does this all feel unreal in a way at times? It feels so strange knowing how life was before COVID and now knowing it'll be something we have to at least think about forever likely with staying up to date with booster shots. I don't have harsh mandates where I live anymore, you have to wear a mask indoors if you're unvaccinated but they don't check your card when entering so anyone can just not wear a mask. I have gone out to eat indoors, I attended a music festival in Oakland a month and a half ago with thousands of people packed together like pre-pandemic days where masks were encouraged but not required (I wore mine all day aside from eating / drinking since I was packed so tight around so many people, had to prove vaccination or negative COVID test), attended an indoor concert with a few hundred people (again packed like pre-pandemic but I wore a mask indoors, was "required" but not enforced at all, had to prove vaccination / couldn't just show negative test), and even traveled by plane and I haven't caught COVID, or at least was never aware if I did but was asymptomatic. I am 100% back to living life, but I am still cautious. I usually wear my mask in an outdoor shopping area near me but sometimes if it's not busy I go maskless outdoors but prefer to wear it indoors. I wear my mask at work (not required anymore, but I work the front desk and interact with lots of random people since I greet clients / receive packages and stuff) but don't care if other people don't wear theirs since it's my choice to wear my mask there. I don't care what other people do at this point, I wear KF94 masks and feel if I wear my own I am protecting myself from others, even if masks are more effective at stopping transmission than being infected.

I feel we would be best off if as many people would get vaccinated, if that means events / stores require vaccination then so be it. I got 2 shots months ago and have been able to surround myself with thousands of people singing at the top of their lungs blowing their air particles everywhere and didn't get sick, COVID or otherwise. I don't see how asking citizens to get a free vaccine available very very easily during a global pandemic is infringing on freedoms. When we aren't getting enough people to get vaccinated to reach herd immunity and start moving out of the pandemic stage of this all I think it makes sense to put requirements on entertainment / etc. events to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

At the end of the day, I am still cautious of COVID but don't live in fear. My mom freaks out about COVID numbers all the time and it annoys me at this point, I am going out and doing things I did pre-pandemic but wear a mask in crowds to make myself feel safe, but I don't judge people not wearing their masks. Life is on track to being closer to normal, but we can't just ignore COVID or we will lose the progress we have made. It's been almost 2 years at this point which feels crazy to me, that I can remember not worrying about any of this but it's been so long now that I'm just used to life with COVID. I used to wear a cloth mask in big groups sometimes even before the pandemic, I will probably choose to continue to do so even once COVID is under control because I have not even gotten a cold or the flu or anything since I started wearing a mask. Sorry for the random word vomit, just wanted to share my experience with having returned to regular life and attending events and doing things that were not possible a year ago cause of the pandemic and how I feel. It's so easy to show my vaccination proof from my Apple Wallet and enter the concerts / fly / etc. and go about enjoying the event. It was quicker to prove I was vaccinated at the festival than it was to get my ID checked to prove I could buy alcohol.

Honestly, we never should have freaked out in the first place with COVID, but we need to abandon these vaccine requirements, all it is doing is creating a black market where people are buying fake documentation, which in the long run will make the problems worse, not better.

 

[TP2000]

Honestly, we never should have freaked out in the first place with COVID, but we need to abandon these vaccine requirements, all it is doing is creating a black market where people are buying fake documentation, which in the long run will make the problems worse, not better.

The whole CDC card thing is hilariously ridiculous. It's the story of the emperor having no clothes.

Such a farcical and meaningless way to track vaccinations. A paper card, without even a circa 1950's serial number on it, let alone a circa 1980's barcode or circa 2000's hologram watermark or circa 2010's QR code. Just an easily copied paper card, in black and white no less. With ballpoint pen scribbles on it.

There is no national system for tracking vaccinations and being able to prove it, and there likely never will be. The current federal administration has made no meaningful changes to that system from the previous federal administration, which actually replaced the federal administration we now have again.

It's the same old thing, regardless if the big boss has an R next to his name or a D next to his name. With ballpoint pen scribbles.

 

[TP2000]

Speaking of the same old thing, vaccination rates in Los Angeles County in the final days before the vaccine mandate begins on Thursday continue to... decline from their already flatlining rate since August.

Daily Vaccination Rates for Los Angeles County

Um... what was the goal here exactly?

 

[truecoat]

Honestly, we never should have freaked out in the first place with COVID, but we need to abandon these vaccine requirements, all it is doing is creating a black market where people are buying fake documentation, which in the long run will make the problems worse, not better.

Yeah, I remember when I bought DPT vaccine proof for my kids when they went to school on the black market.

 

[Disney Irish]

Honestly, we never should have freaked out in the first place with COVID, but we need to abandon these vaccine requirements, all it is doing is creating a black market where people are buying fake documentation, which in the long run will make the problems worse, not better.

While its happening, in reality its not happening in the shear numbers in this country that you make seem, we're talking in the tens of thousands to hundred thousand range not millions, a small fraction of the population. Its mostly happening in large numbers outside the US such as in China where they are stricter.

Besides why buy a fake one when apparently some corrupt pharmacists will sell you the real thing.

 

[mickEblu]

Sounds like LAUSD is reversing their decision on vaccine mandates for kids between 5-11 (for now). Between this and what happened in Virginia yesterday I can’t help but feel (or hope) that the craziness has peaked and we have some check n balances going on.

 

[TP2000]

Yeah, I remember when I bought DPT vaccine proof for my kids when they went to school on the black market.

This is something I hadn't thought of before, as an old childless bachelor. How exactly do parents prove to a school district that their children have received a DTaP and MMR vaccine?

When I got my TDaP booster a year ago, CVS gave me a little dated sheet with my name and the vaccine batch on it. Is that the type of documentation you provide a school district?

But when I got my Shingrix series before that, I got nothing from the VA that proved that happened. I suppose I could ask for proof of some sort, but if you've ever interacted with the VA it's best to just get in and get out.

 

[mickEblu]

This is something I hadn't thought of before, as an old childless bachelor. How exactly do parents prove to a school district that their children have received a DTaP and MMR vaccine?

When I got my TDaP booster a year ago, CVS gave me a little dated sheet with my name and the vaccine batch on it. Is that the type of documentation you provide a school district?

But when I got my Shingrix series before that, I got nothing from the VA that proved that happened. I suppose I could ask for proof of some sort, but if you've ever interacted with the VA it's best to just get in and get out.

It’s that yellow card stock paper document that folds in three or four with little stamps of the Pediatricians name next to said vaccination. I imagine it’s pretty easy to get a stamp with your doctors name. Not sure about the document.

 

[drizgirl]

It’s that yellow card stock paper document that folds in three or four with little stamps of the Pediatricians name next to said vaccination. I imagine it’s pretty easy to get a stamp with your doctors name. Not sure about the document.

It can actually take on many different forms. The latest we used was a printout from the pediatrician's office. We actually had one pediatrician close her doors abruptly and we couldn't get the records, so I was able to get a printout from the school district of what we had provided previously (since I was a bad parent and had lost ours).

 

[TP2000]

It can actually take on many different forms. The latest we used was a printout from the pediatrician's office. We actually had one pediatrician close her doors abruptly and we couldn't get the records, so I was able to get a printout from the school district of what we had provided previously (since I was a bad parent and had lost ours).

Ah, okay.

I just hadn't thought about it. But it sounds like there's no specific card or form that a school district asks for. You can show a doctor's note, a receipt, that paper they print out at CVS, etc., etc.

It sounds like there's no federal standard or approved form for vaccine proof for school children. And as we've seen with those silly CDC paper cards they passed out by the hundreds of millions in the last year, there's no real way to definitively prove to a school district your child has had a Covid shot.

Let alone prove your vaccine status to a restaurant hostess.

 

[Disney Irish]

Ah, okay.

I just hadn't thought about it. But it sounds like there's no specific card or form that a school district asks for. You can show a doctor's note, a receipt, that paper they print out at CVS, etc., etc.

It sounds like there's no federal standard or approved form for vaccine proof for school children. And as we've seen with those silly CDC paper cards they passed out by the hundreds of millions in the last year, there's no real way to definitively prove to a school district your child has had a Covid shot.

Let alone prove your vaccine status to a restaurant hostess.

The standard one for California is the yellow one with the state seal, used by doctors to record the shots and shown as proof of vaccination to schools all over the state -

Had been in use for decades, I had one in the 70s. And outside of the anti-vax crowd wasn't questioned, faked, or otherwise mocked for being a paper record. And as brought up previously was required for enrollment into school in California.

Now in the 2000s when records started to be digitized the document also took on many other forms as was pointed out. But still its the same type of document as required by all California schools for enrollment. So no you can't just show a receipt or a "doctor's note". It has to be seen as an official immunization record.

 

[TP2000]

The standard one for California is the yellow one with the state seal, used by doctors to record the shots and shown as proof of vaccination to schools all over the state -

Er.... I Googled. It seems that California will accept an array of documents. The yellow card you referenced is the standard, and many parents use it.

But California will accept other documents too, or even from foreign countries like Mexico.

http://www.sdiz.org/documents/Sch-CC/Final_School%20Law%20Training%20TK-12%2018_0215.pdf

It does seem that they like to see students by 7th grade have their shots for Polio, TDaP and MMR and Varicella (Chickenpox). That last one is funny to me because in my day we just had Chickenpox Parties that mother's would throw to ensure their kids caught Chickenpox the natural way and got it over with.

But since the 1970's there's been a vaccine for Chickenpox.

Progress! But you lost an excuse for a party.

 

[Disney Irish]

Er.... I Googled. It seems that California will accept an array of documents. The yellow card you referenced is the standard, and many parents use it.

View attachment 598002


But California will accept other documents too, or even from foreign countries like Mexico.

http://www.sdiz.org/documents/Sch-CC/Final_School%20Law%20Training%20TK-12%2018_0215.pdf

It does seem that they like to see students by 7th grade have their shots for Polio, TDaP and MMR and Varicella (Chickenpox). That last one is funny to me because in my day we just had Chickenpox Parties that mother's would throw to ensure their kids caught Chickenpox the natural way and got it over with.

But since the 1970's there's been a vaccine for Chickenpox.

Progress! But you lost an excuse for a party.

First, you missed what I already stated, which is starting in the 2000s when records became digitized California started accepting other documents besides the Yellow card. But the important thing is they have to be deemed official to be accepted, its not just some receipt from CVS.

Second, you obviously didn't read the entire document you yourself provided as it explicitly states that Mexican Immunization Records ARE NOT acceptable.

In order for a document to be acceptable, according to the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency document you provided, it MUST:

 Must identify the student by name and DOB
 Must show the date each required vaccine dose was received
 Acceptable records: medical charts, out-of-state or international records, military records, other Blue Cards, etc.

The Mexican Immunization Records do not record the date each required vaccine was given, hence not acceptable. So no they just don't accept any foreign documents, again they MUST be deemed acceptable.

Also this same document clearly stated that the Yellow cards are encouraged to be used. If the parent doesn't have one, they are suggested to have any records transcribed over to the Yellow card. Hence the Yellow card is THE record to be used in California, even if other documents can be used.

 

[TP2000]

It's now Monday, November 8th and it's official... Lxs Angelxs County has a vaccine mandate that requires you to show proof of Covid vaccination to enter all restaurants, bars, gyms, shopping malls (?!?), museums, barber shops, salons, movie theaters, etc., etc.

Restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters: Strict vaccine proof mandate now in effect in L.A.

One of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates went into effect in Los Angeles Monday, requiring customers to show proof of vaccination at many indoor businesses. Angelenos will now be asked to sho…

ktla.com

Interestingly, here is where the misinformation hard data and statistics stand for LA County compared to the rest of SoCal. The arrival of the vaccine mandate for LA County (population 10.1 Million) hasn't changed these basic trends we've seen since last spring;

This data is from the California Department of Public Health, and the way they keep track up in Sacramento is by total population, not just Californians over the age of 12. Your tax dollars at work!

November 7th Vaccination Rates
State of California = 61.2% Fully Vaccinated
San Diego County = 66.5% Fully Vaccinated
Orange County = 63.8% Fully Vaccinated
Lxs Angelxs County = 62.7% Fully Vaccinated
Riverside County = 51.2% Fully Vaccinated
San Bernardino County = 48.9% Fully Vaccinated

As of today, here's the demographics of people over the age of 12 (because most counties track differently than Sacramento does, because that makes sense to bureaucrats) that have been fully vaccinated in LA County, and thus the percentage of each adult demographic who are now no longer allowed to enter LA businesses or public accomodations;

Asians = 77.5% Fully Vaccinated
Whites = 68.7% Fully Vaccinated
American Indians = 68.2% Fully Vaccinated
Latinos = 57.2% Fully Vaccinated
Blacks = 50.9% Fully Vaccinated

So... here they go up in LA with this vaccine mandate. I wish them luck and hope the restaurant hostesses up there have Xanax to take on their breaks.

 

[mickEblu]

Lxs Angelxs County

 

[mickEblu]

San Diege continues to have the highest vaccination rates

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

This is something I hadn't thought of before, as an old childless bachelor. How exactly do parents prove to a school district that their children have received a DTaP and MMR vaccine?

When I got my TDaP booster a year ago, CVS gave me a little dated sheet with my name and the vaccine batch on it. Is that the type of documentation you provide a school district?

But when I got my Shingrix series before that, I got nothing from the VA that proved that happened. I suppose I could ask for proof of some sort, but if you've ever interacted with the VA it's best to just get in and get out.

Reading this made me realize I have no idea what vaccinations I actually have, I know I have the Covid vaccine (this year) and Hepatitis vaccine (for work about 20 years ago) but I got all the rest as an elementary aged kid… about 40 years ago. Is there even a way to find out what I’ve had?

 

[TP2000]

San Diege continues to have the highest vaccination rates

San Diege! I love that.

And yes, they do. It's interesting to see so many employees now in Orange County working without masks, let alone the customers who are going maskless in OC now.

Trader Joe's has no employee mask mandate, and yesterday when I ran in there for cheese and flowers they were all maskless. Also In-N-Out, my fabulous nail ladies who allow me to appear in public wearing sandals, my UPS Store, etc., etc.