Philadelphia became the latest city in the United States to impose a vaccine mandate as officials announced that proof of inoculation would be required to enter public areas like restaurants, bars, indoor sporting events among others. The mandate will be put in place starting January 3, 2022.

The prominent Pennsylvania city has reported a surge in COVID-19 infections recently. According to reports from CBS News citing Cheryl Bettigole, Philadelphia’s Public Health Director, the city has witnessed a 50% increase in hospitalisation rates and infections doubled in the last few weeks.

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Bettigole, along with Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, said that the new vaccine mandate has been designed to prevent a complete shutdown of multiple services like those seen last year on the onset of the COVID pandemic. The mandate was also designed keeping in mind the cold weather and the approaching holiday season.

Bettigole said in a statement, “I don’t want to close our restaurants or other establishments that serve food. I want them to stay open and operate safely”, according to reports from CBS News.

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With the new mandate scheduled to start on January 3, Bettigole explained details and requirements for the residents. These include:

-Patrons will have the option to produce a negative COVID-19 report not older than 24 hours. However, this option will be given for the first two weeks of the mandate.

-Proof of being fully vaccinated will be required from January 17, 2022.

– Some extra time has been allocated for children who are 5-11 years old and employees. The city is asking that those groups have the first dose by January 3 and a second dose by February 3, according to reports from CBS News.

Multiple cities across the United States have already imposed such vaccine mandates to curb the increasing COVID cases. These include San Francisco, New York City and Los Angeles.