Valencia to extend COVID passport to ALL bars and restaurants
Subject to court approval, the extension will apply to all bars and restaurants, regardless of capacity, as well as all public spaces where people eat and drink.
Monday 20th December 2021 – PRESS RELEASE with Mike Smith
The president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, has announced a plan to accelerate vaccination with 42 new permanent points to administer booster doses to citizens and has also revealed that he will request authorization from the Superior Court of Justice of the Comunidad Valenciana (TSJCV) to require the mandatory COVID passport to enter the interior of all types of hotel and restaurant establishments, regardless of their capacity, as well as to access cinemas, gyms and sports centres of various kinds.
This has been explained by the head of the Valencian Government during his appearance, together with the regional health secretary, Ana Barceló, to explain the agreements adopted at the Interdepartmental Table for Prevention and Action against COVID-19.
The new permanent vaccination points will enable 147 teams to administer the booster doses and will work by appointment, so that people will be notified by SMS or by phone. These points will be located in places such as sports centres, retirement homes or spaces integrated into hospitals, all with the aim of decongesting Primary Care and speeding up immunization.
The regional health department will administer the booster doses to people aged 60 to 69 who still do not have it, those vaccinated with AstraZeneca and those immunized with Janssen. Later, it will continue with the age group of 50 to 59 years and, later, with that of 40 to 49 years.
In parallel, the walk-in vaccination points will continue to operate for the first and second doses. In fact, this week there will be 23 mobile points in operation.
Extension of COVID passport measure
Approval has been sought from the TSJCV to extension the requirement to show a valid COVID certificate in all hotel and restaurant establishments until January 31st 2022. And it has been proposed to remove the exemption for premises that have a capacity of less than 50 people whilst extending the requirement to show the documentation to all public places where people eat or drink, such as cinemas, multipurpose rooms, circuses and party venues.
In addition, the COVID passport will be necessary to access spaces with catering services in tourist accommodation as well as sports facilities, indoor swimming pools and recreational centres for the elderly. In gyms, not only this certificate will be required, but also the permanent use of the mask.
This is the response of the Valencian Government to the evolution of the pandemic and will be defended by Ximo Puig as measures which need to be adopted on a more widespread scale during this Wednesday’s President’s Conference, which has the objective of “generating credibility” with the public and to give the impression of a joint impulse effort to overcoming the pandemic.
“Safer spaces” and “more protected people”
The president explained that, with the reinforcement of vaccination campaign and the extension of the COVID passport, the aim is to guarantee “safer spaces” and “more protected people, who has justified the need for these measures in that, in a month, infections and hospitalized people have tripled and ICU admissions have also almost tripled.
“We have to adapt to the new scenario and change our mentality,” said Puig, who has asked citizens for “prudence” to face these festive holidays, because, as he said, “we did not get to Christmas as we expected.”
For this reason, he has asked for “common sense” and celebrate Christmas avoiding crowds and massive family gatherings and fulfilling quarantines before contacts with positives.
The president has advocated, however, for “ignoring scaremongering.” “We are on alert, but not in a state of alarm,” he said, and recalled that “at the worst moment of the pandemic – still without vaccines – we had 4,800 hospitalized, that is, seven times more than today, and 670 people in critical condition, that is to say, five times more than today “.
Confidence in vaccination
In this sense, the president also wanted to convey a message of confidence in the effectiveness of vaccination, and stressed that, at this time, 93.7% of Valencian men and women are already vaccinated. “On January 14th, with the same incidence as now, we had 3,000 hospitalized,” he recalled.
Given this, it considers “crucial” to intensify vaccination with the reinforcement of the third doses, children’s vaccination, and the first doses to the most reluctant, and in this regard, it has reported that the 9 million doses administered have already been exceeded. “This means that we have 4.2 million Valencians protected with the complete guideline, and today we will exceed 1.3 million third doses in the most vulnerable population,” he said.
Likewise, he has indicated that “in just 3 days, 50,000 Valencian children from 9 to 11 years old have already been vaccinated” and that this first phase will conclude on Wednesday and will resume after the festive holidays.
On the other hand, Puig has remarked that the entry into force of the COVID passport meant multiplying by five the number of people who have received the first dose, with 28,000 new people vaccinated in a week.
