In-N-Out Burger Briefly Shuts in San Francisco Over Vaccine Mandate

U.S.|In-N-Out Burger concisely shuts aft clashing with San Francisco implicit a vaccine mandate.

• Oct. 21, 2021, 6:14 a.m. ET

In-N-Out, the fashionable burger concatenation successful California, was forced to adjacent its lone San Francisco outlet past week aft it failed to comply with the city’s request that each restaurants cheque the vaccine cards of indoor diners.

The edifice unopen down each operations connected Oct. 14, but it has since reopened for outdoor eating and takeout aft implementing measures to comply with the mandate, the San Francisco Department of Public Health said successful a connection connected Wednesday.

“Public wellness officials straight informed In-N-Out Burger representatives aggregate times astir the proof-of-vaccination requirement,” the section said, adding that nary different edifice successful the metropolis had needed to beryllium reminded.

In-N-Out did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected Wednesday. But The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the main ineligible and concern serviceman for In-N-Out, Arnie Wensinger, said successful a statement: “We garbage to go the vaccination constabulary for immoderate government.”

The concatenation has 257 locations successful California, according to the company’s website.

The friction comes arsenic the state continues to grapple with pandemic mandates, underscoring the challenges facing hospitality workers who, successful immoderate places, person been tasked with enforcing rules connected mask-wearing and vaccinations.

The property’s proprietor was besides issued a announcement of violation, according to the city.

The section of nationalist wellness said businesses person respective options to run that bash not necessitate vaccination check-ins.

“The immense bulk of businesses person worked successful concern with the metropolis to support nationalist health, knowing that the wellness and information of our assemblage remains our highest precedence and our reopening is contingent connected america getting the microorganism nether control,” the section said.

On Twitter, the city’s attack was much jocular and included a tweet suggesting that the sanction of the edifice could beryllium changed to “In-N-Out(side).”