ROTHENBURGER: Vaccine cards and the sudden switch to ‘fast food’ service

On the front door is a notice to patrons that they must order their food at the front counter before sitting themselves down. A poster beside it says, “Vax or no vax, mask or no mask, we respect your right to choose under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Welcome & thank you for supporting our business.”

Inside, co-owner Denese Metsimela was at the counter Friday morning but politely declined an interview. She said only that the restaurant isn’t anti-vax but doesn’t believe people should have to show vaccine cards to be served.

The Jamaican Kitchen isn’t the only place that feels that way. Papa G’s Café on Victoria Street also switched to front-counter service after the new rules came out, and after an anonymous complaint was received by the City’s Community Services department that the café wasn’t asking for vaccine cards.

Health inspectors came by for a “lengthy discussion” about the reasoning behind not asking for vaccine cards, which came down to a belief that customers should “have a choice,” and staff shouldn’t have to put up with angry customers. The IH inspectors offered two choices.

One of those choices was to comply with the new law on vaccine cards. The other, as described on the café’s Facebook page: “change our restaurant model where our customers come to the front counter, order and pay for their food, then take a seat and we serve them, but we cannot serve alcohol on this model.”

The café chose the second. Manager Gerald Thiessen told me yesterday IH checked a week ago to make sure the changes had been made. “They gave me their blessing.”

Business, he said, is booming.

Over on Third Avenue, it’s business as usual for Klasske’s Bistro, which assured customers via social media it was unaffected by the card law because it doesn’t serve alcohol and it’s a counter-order place anyway.

“Although we do have a couple of tables, we are considered counter service — just as McDonald’s or Starbucks (which aren’t required to ask for proof of vaccination at this time.)”

A spokesperson for Interior Health clarified for me that “table service” means a server comes to your table, takes your order, then brings it to you. In order for it not to be table service, a customer must order food at the counter and sit down. A server can bring it to the table but otherwise can’t provide the normal service such as checking back on whether the food is to your liking, bringing additional items and so on. Dishes can’t be taken away until after the table has become vacant.

So, technically, if a restaurant removes table service and doesn’t serve alcohol, it’s just another McDonald’s without the plastic décor and drive-thru. The definition of “fast food” becomes flexible.

This might seem like gaming the system, but it seems to be OK with health inspectors and certainly raises questions about the purpose of distinguishing between the two different kinds of restaurants.

An inquiry to the provincial health ministry in Victoria brought a response last evening with a statement from chief medical health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry explaining her view on the reason for the distinction: “What is not here are fast-food restaurants, cafeterias, food courts where people grab and go or drive through.

“We know that those are much different situations. People are there for a much shorter period of time and it’s not practical to require somebody to try and check a vaccine card in those settings.”

That makes some sense and seems to suggest the restaurants that are switching to front-counter service aren’t really following the spirit of the new law unless they’re suddenly churning out meals in a couple of minutes.

Still, the situation is rather silly. COVID can surely spread as easily in one as it can in the other, whether a food order is taken at a table or given at a front counter. Anyone who’s sat down for a coffee inside a fast-food place knows people can linger there for quite a while with a good book or yakking with friends.

I leave it to readers to decide for themselves whether all restaurants should simply buck up and require customers to show the card or whether the ones that are doing the work-around deserve support.

My own view leans toward consistency, and a requirement that all food outlets, whether fast food or not, should have to use the card unless it’s drive-thru. The B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association says the card has actually increased business for most of its members.

As long as the rules are written the way they are, though, and health inspectors are giving the stamp of approval to full-service restaurants changing the way food is ordered rather than accepting responsibility for checking vaccine cards, it’s hard to argue.

As we all know, restaurants have been hard hit by the pandemic. And one must sympathize with the Jamaican Kitchen, for one, which has struggled with some high-profile vandalism and break-ins.

Which leaves it to patrons to decide if they feel comfortable eating in a place that might be filled with unvaccinated foodies.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: Vaccine cards and the sudden switch to ‘fast food’ service

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