Oh, The Places You’ll Go With Your Vaccine Card! 2 Big Cities Enact Rules

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco To Become First Major U.S. City To Mandate Full Vaccination For Many Indoor Activities
San Francisco will become the first major city in the country to require proof of full vaccination against the coronavirus for a variety of indoor activities, including visiting bars, restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues that serve food or beverages. Many bars and restaurants around San Francisco have already taken it upon themselves to ask patrons to show their vaccination cards before they enter — a process that has largely gone well. Nearly 80% of the city’s eligible population has been vaccinated, and officials hope the new rule will push holdouts to finally get the shot. The mandate will take effect Friday, Aug. 20. (Thadani, 8/12)

AP: New Orleans Mayor: Good Times Can Roll -- With Vaccines
People who want to enter New Orleans bars, restaurants, music halls — or any other inside venue — will soon have to show proof of vaccination against the coronavirus or a recent negative test, according to new rules announced Thursday by the mayor amid a surge in virus cases. Louisiana has become a hot spot for the fourth surge in the pandemic, driven by both low vaccination rates across the state and the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. While New Orleans’ residents are getting vaccinated at slightly higher rates than the U.S. as a whole, the vaccination rate for the entire state is one of the worst in the country. (McGill and Santana, 8/12)

AP: Vaccination Or Negative Test Required For Saints, Wave Games
The Superdome remains on track to open at full capacity for New Orleans Saints games this season, but only to fans who provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test taken 72 hours prior to games, and who wear masks. The City of New Orleans enacted new rules Thursday for entertainment venues and indoor facilities hosting large social gatherings on the heels of spiking COVID-19 related hospitalizations in the state in recent weeks. That came after the State of Louisiana enacted a mask mandate for such venues. (8/13)

Los Angeles Times: Coachella Promoter AEG Presents Sets COVID Vaccine Mandate
Concert giant AEG Presents, which runs marquee festivals like Coachella and Stagecoach along with local clubs like the Roxy and El Rey Theater, announced a mandatory vaccination policy for staff and fans at its future shows. The policy, which fully kicks in on Oct. 1, will not allow for recent negative tests to substitute — only fully vaccinated ticketholders may attend its concerts and festivals, except in any states where such policies are banned. Effective immediately, and leading up to Oct. 1, proof of a negative test within 72 hours of the show date will suffice for entry. (Brown, 8/12)

The Washington Post: The John F. Kennedy Center And Fords Theatre Will Require Proof Of Vaccination Beginning Sept. 1 
The Kennedy Center and Ford’s Theatre will require audience members to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test beginning Sept. 1, the two venues announced Thursday morning. Additionally, all artists, staff, ushers and volunteers will be required to be vaccinated. (Hahn, 8/12)

In updates on mandates for health care workers —

Bangor Daily News: Maine Will Be One Of The 1st States To Mandate COVID-19 Vaccines For Health Workers
Maine will be one of the first states to require COVID-19 vaccines for health care workers after Gov. Janet Mills announced an aggressive policy shift on Thursday that sets an Oct. 1 deadline for them to be fully inoculated. The mandate will come through an emergency change to state rules governing vaccinations for workers in health care settings, including hospitals, nursing homes and residential care facilities and home health agencies. Paramedics and dental practitioners would also be covered. Vaccine requirements were amended this year to also mandate the flu vaccine. (Andrews, 8/12)

AP: Arkansas Hospitals Announce Vaccine Requirements For Staff
A growing number of Arkansas hospitals said Thursday they’ll require all staff to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as the state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped after hitting new records three days in a row. CHI St. Vincent and St. Bernards Healthcare System announced they would require employees to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1. Baptist Memorial Health Care, which operates NEA Baptist in Jonesboro, said it would also require employees at its hospitals in Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi be vaccinated by that date. Conway Regional Health System said its vaccine requirement for staff will take effect Oct. 8. (DeMillo, 8/13)

Modern Healthcare: CommonSpirit Mandates COVID-19 Vaccinations For All Employees Across 21 States
CommonSpirit Health becomes the latest in a growing list of healthcare providers to require its workforce to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the number of hospitalizations due to current surge continues to rise. The health system announced Thursday employees at all 140 of its hospitals and more than 1,000 care sites across 21 states must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 as a condition of their employment but will make available exemptions for medical or religious reasons. (Ross Johnson, 8/12)

Indianapolis Star: Eli Lilly To Require Vaccinations For All Employees
Eli Lilly and Co., will require all employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination effective Nov. 15, the company announced Thursday. Lilly said it will consider medical or religious accommodations on an individual basis. "As a science-based company, we have thoroughly reviewed all the data and options available to us," spokesperson Jen Dial said. "We believe this decision helps keep our employees, families and customers safe and healthy, and ensures we can continue making life-saving medicines for people around the world." (Huang, 8/12)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Nursing Homes Will Need 80% Of Staff Vaccinated To Avoid Testing Requirement — But It’s Not A Mandate
If Pennsylvania nursing homes don’t have at least 80% of their staff vaccinated by Oct. 1, the Department of Health announced Thursday, all employees would have to undergo regular coronavirus testing — but the Wolf administration stopped short of issuing a vaccination or testing requirement. Less than 13% of the 700 nursing homes statewide, excluding Philadelphia, have reached or exceeded 80% of their staff vaccinated, the department said, leaving most facilities at risk for future coronavirus outbreaks. Yet the Wolf administration called the goal only an “expectation” and did not ask nursing homes to have all employees vaccinated. (McDaniel, McCarthy and Burling, 8/12)

The Boston Globe: Assisted Living Leaders Urge State To Mandate COVID-19 Shots For Workers
Massachusetts assisted living executives, worried about the rapidly rising tide of COVID-19 infections in the state, urged the Baker administration on Thursday to mandate COVID vaccines for workers in their industry. They say thousands of frail elders in assisted living residences, most of them vaccinated but with weak immune systems, are still vulnerable to infections because many workers in the facilities have yet to get their shots. Assisted living residents generally have more independence than those in nursing homes, but face many of the same health risks. (Lazar, 8/12)