New Orleans drops COVID vaccine mandate for restaurants, bars and other public spaces

New Orleans lifted its COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate on Monday for entrance into bars, restaurants and some other public spaces, ending the city's last major pandemic restriction as case counts fall and businesses prepare for a string of upcoming festivals.

The move comes three weeks after the city’s Mardi Gras celebrations, which came and went without sparking an increase in coronavirus cases or hospitalizations. The city's residents and businesses are now looking ahead to a busy spring festival season, with the French Quarter Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Essence Festival of Culture planned in the coming months. 

Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the end of the mandate a “critical and welcome milestone” in the city's two-year battle against the pandemic, adding that she was grateful that residents, businesses and others had complied with the rules.

"It could not have happened without our people taking the guidelines seriously and helping us not only flatten the curve — but emerge from the pandemic as a safe destination city," Cantrell said in a prepared statement.

The vaccine mandate, imposed in August as the Delta variant sent cases and hospitalizations soaring, required proof of at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot or a recent negative test for entry into certain businesses.

It was the only remaining COVID-related business restriction in the city after Cantrell lifted the city's indoor mask mandate on March 3, two days after Fat Tuesday. 

New Orleans public schools lifted the mask mandate for city's network of charter schools starting Monday, though children five and over are still required to be vaccinated. Federally required mask mandates remain in effect in certain areas such as on public buses and streetcars.

Orleans Parish has the highest vaccination rate in the state, more than 77% of residents having received at least two shots. The statewide vaccination rate is 59%. 

As of Sunday, hospitals in both the metropolitan area and across the state recorded the fewest COVID-19 inpatients since the start of the pandemic. New Orleans has averaged about 30 new cases a day over the last week; the city was averaging more than 1,450 cases daily during the height of the Omicron surge. 

Restaurants ready to go 

Many restaurants and bars willingly complied with mandates that had — in practice, if not in law — become voluntary because of enforcement challenges. But even some that were diligent in checking vaccine cards were glad to see the requirement go.

“Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah,” exclaimed Gina Scala Perret, third-generation owner of Beachcorner Bar & Grill in Mid-City. “We’ve been waiting for this.”

Ashwin Vilkhu, an owner of Saffron NOLA, said his Magazine Street Indian restaurant began requiring proof of vaccination even before the city's rules were put in place, part of an effort made by a number of New Orleans restaurants to protect staff and customers. Saffron will stop asking for proof of vaccination now that the mandate has ended, but Vilkhu is still bracing for the possibility that another surge in cases could force a new set of rules.

“I can’t say I’m 100% comfortable, because we’ve seen before how we can take one step forward, two steps back. Rules go away, and then we have to bring them back again,” said Vilkhu. 

The city's release did not say if mandates could return in the event of another surge, though Cantrell said "we will continue to closely monitor the data, and remain guided by science."

Effervescence, the French Quarter restaurant and wine bar, will also stop enforcing its own vaccination policy, which it introduced ahead of the city’s mandate. Proprietor Crystal Hinds said the policy was effective, but now that COVID numbers are low she’s glad to see the mandate lifted.

“I think it did what it needed to do, we got most people vaccinated who were going to get vaccinated; the guests are ready and we’re ready,” she said.

Emergency orders

Last month, the city's vaccine and mask mandates survived a court challenge from more than 100 plaintiffs, including Attorney General Jeff Landry, who petitioned to join the suit after it was filed. The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cantrell administration on Feb. 15. 

While the Cantrell administration promised aggressive enforcement when announcing mask mandates in 2020 and the vaccine mandate last year, the restrictions have become more or less voluntary in practice.

Cantrell seemed to violate her own mask rules last month at an indoor Mardi Gras ball, forcing administration officials to admit that compliance was slipping. 

Since the start of the year, the city's 311 system has received 325 complaints of businesses violating COVID-19 rules, with all but a handful listed as "pending," according to city data. 

The move to end the city's vaccine mandate comes amid a broader push by Louisiana officials to roll back rules and emergency powers that residents have dealt with since the first confirmed coronavirus cases were found in the state in March, 2020.

Earlier this month, Gov. John Bel Edwards allowed Louisiana's public health emergency proclamation to expire on March 14, two years after he first signed it.

Cantrell's authority to impose COVID-19 measures is provided in a separate emergency order for the City of New Orleans, which she executed in March 2020.

State law allows the mayor to keep the order in place as long he or she deems necessary. An administration spokesperson declined comment as to how long the order might remain in place. 

Staff writer Jeff Adelson contributed to this report.