Hoboken SantaCon returns with vaccine requirements
HOBOKEN, New Jersey (WABC) -- SantaCon was in full swing as hundreds walked the streets of Downtown Hoboken on Saturday, hopping from bar to bar.
"Obviously it's a little crazy with everything going on with COVID but hopefully everyone is staying safe and vaccinated and hopefully that will make it a little bit better," said Ryan Cassidy.
The annual festive fundraising bar crawl was canceled last year because of the pandemic.
"It's a little scary, but I'm 22 years old...gotta get out there at some point, you know?" said Riley Keating.
Hoboken's SantaCon returned as positive cases soared within the past few days, reaching some of the highest numbers of single-day COVID cases in New York and New Jersey since the start of the pandemic.
Friends Lauren Padron and Rachel are hospital nurses.
"Every hospital is very short staffed right now especially with the cases going up. It's definitely a lot that people don't see on the inside," said Rachel.
One day before SantaCon, Hoboken's mayor and the city's Officer of Emergency Management announced a new mandate that any Hoboken bar or restaurant participating in SantaCon must require anyone over the age of 21 to show proof of full vaccination to enter. You have to prove that you were vaccinated at least two weeks prior to SantaCon.
One bar owner says some people didn't make the cut.
"Several people only had one vaccination instead of two. Several people, they understand and they moved on," said Texas Arizona bar owner Jim McCue.
According to the new mandate, any establishment that violates the new rule could be forced to close or have its liquor license suspended.
ALSO READ | Shortage of Santa impersonators due to COVID worries comes as demand is at all time high
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