It was brave for several companies to stand with Gov. Chris Sununu on television to speak out against vaccine mandates. They also provided consumers an important public service by being so open about their employee policies. One of the companies is a chain of restaurants across New Hampshire. I think it would be safe to say that unvaccinated staff at these restaurants could possibly be preparing or serving food and drinks to me if I visited one of their eateries. If that’s the case, I hope the same restaurant chain would also inform the public which of its establishments have staff who are fully vaccinated and which they consider the safest? People with immunocompromised conditions should be warned before they go into a restaurant with mixed status vaccination uptake among the staff. It’s just like having a Smoking Section sign in the old days. Consumers should be able to choose their risk exposure if laws (mandates) don’t exist to protect them.

New Hampshire is currently in the middle of the biggest COVID spike since January with more than thirty people dying each week. We will never get this terrible virus to an endemic state if the vast majority of people don’t get vaccinated. The acts of these companies to push back against full vaccination is an anti-social disservice to the vast majority of us who believe in science and the public good. I will certainly keep that in mind as a consumer who has many choices in the marketplace.