Brookline vaccine mandate

BROOKLINE, Mass. — The town of Brookline will now require everyone over the age of 12 to show proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to enter indoor entertainment venues, restaurants and gyms starting this weekend.

“I’ve been avoiding going to certain places and now I feel better about going and it’s better for business, so I’m in favor of it,” said Nancy Fisher, who lives in Brookline.

Mark Harrington is the president of HealthWorks Group with several fitness clubs in Boston and Brookline.

He welcomes the new vaccine mandate and says most of his gym members support it.

“By adding this vaccine mandate, we’re making more people comfortable coming to the gym, more people comfortable going to a restaurant, and I’m hoping it’s going to spur more people coming to our downtown districts that need their customers back,” said Harrington.

He says members will just have to show proof of vaccination the first time they check-in and it’ll be saved to their profile.

“We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response from our membership base, looking at emails we’ve received almost 200 positive emails for every negative email, and we’ve received thousands of emails,” said Harrington.

Brookline will follow Boston with a similar multi-phase approach starting January 15.

See the full order here:

Brookline-Vaccine-Regulation-2022-01-11-FINAL-1-1.pdf (brooklinecovid19.com)

Brookline officials say anyone who violates this new vaccine mandate policy could face a fine of 300 dollars.

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