Restaurant owners in Maine aim to protect servers and other front-line workers

Restaurant owners in Maine aim to protect servers and other front-line workers

Transcript¹

Several restaurants in Portland are calling on local officials to institute a vaccine² mandate³. They says the mandate would protect front-line workers amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

With the surge of the omicron variant⁴ across the country, many local officials are considering new restrictions⁵ to try to limit the spread. In Portland, Maine, several local restaurants are now calling on the City Council to require customers to get vaccines⁶. Maine Public Radio's Robbie Feinberg has more.

ROBBIE FEINBERG, BYLINE⁷: In November of 2019, Isaac MacDougal opened his cocktail⁸ bar Cocktail Mary. Just a few months later, the pandemic upended those plans.

ISAAC MACDOUGAL: So I have been operating very, very cautiously throughout this entire pandemic in an effort to kind of build a clientele and create a space that felt safe for everybody. I didn't have a huge client base coming into this pandemic, so I was kind of walking a pretty thin line throughout the whole thing.

FEINBERG: For more than a year, Cocktail Mary only offered to-go cocktails⁹ or limited outdoor seating. The bar opened for indoor dining just a few months ago with precautions. MacDougal says he keeps groups of staff members on the same shifts with each other to limit potential exposure, and once indoor service resumed, vaccines were required for staff and patrons.

MACDOUGAL: Honestly, I haven't gotten any - I haven't had any problems. Everyone has a picture of their vaccine card on them and-or the vaccine card on their person, and everyone feels more comfortable and much more able to relax and much more at ease knowing that everyone else inside is vaccinated¹⁰.

FEINBERG: Now MacDougal and other Portland restaurant owners are petitioning the city to require proof of vaccination¹¹ for certain indoor public spaces, including eateries. As of last week, about a dozen restaurants had signed, only a fraction of the total number in the city. Supporters argue that a mandate would help both workers and diners feel safer and help restaurants stay open during the current wave of COVID-19 cases.

MACDOUGAL: My goal with signing this petition is to protect our frontline workers and our health care workers and keep them out of the hospital.

FEINBERG: The petition comes as the Portland City Council is set to consider new COVID-19 restrictions on Monday night. That includes reinstituting a mask mandate, which had been in place across the state through May. Certain businesses requiring vaccines would be exempted¹². Cities including Boston and Chicago have added their own vaccine requirements amidst the surge of the omicron variant, but other restaurant owners have already pushed back on the Portland petition, saying businesses should be able to decide on their own if they want to require vaccines. Greg Dugal with the trade group HospitalityMaine says he's still waiting for more details on the plan before weighing in.

GREG DUGAL: We have been primarily opposed to mandates¹³. I can't say what our opinion will be on this particular one because, again, we have not seen it.

FEINBERG: Whether Portland will institute new mandates will likely emerge on Monday night, when the City Council is set to meet next.

For NPR News, I'm Robbie Feinberg in Portland, Maine.

(SOUNDBITE OF YONDERLING'S "WEST WINDOW")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

4 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

9 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

10 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

11 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

12 exempted   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His bad eyesight exempted him from military service. 他因视力不好而免服兵役。
• Her illness exempted her from the examination. 她因病而免试。

13 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。