On August 11, 2021, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro R. Pierluisi announced new covid-19 measures through Executive Order 2021-063, mandating restaurants and other enclosed businesses that sell prepared meals, to (i) adopt covid-19 vaccination policies for all employees and (ii) require customers to show proof of vaccination or a negative SARS-CoV2 test to enter the venue.

Executive Order 2021-063, effective from August 23, 2021, applies to restaurants, bars, fast-food chains, movie theaters, convention centers and other enclosed businesses that sell prepared meals.  As with previous mandatory vaccination policies required by the Puerto Rico Government to other sectors, employees who cannot receive a COVID-19 vaccine for medical or religious reasons, or that refuse to abide by the mandatory vaccination policy, are required to present a weekly negative SARS-CoV2 test (taken within the previous 72 hours) on the first day of every workweek to be able to enter their worksite.

The Executive Order requires restaurants, bars, fast-food chains, movie theaters, convention centers and any other enclosed businesses that sell prepared meals to require their customers to show proof of vaccination or a negative SARS-CoV2 test to enter the venue. However, those businesses that are not able to comply with the foregoing will have to operate at 50% of their occupation capacity and are required to post a sign showing the number of clients allowed according to the 50% capacity. Furthermore, the Executive Order exempts all persons who solely and exclusively purchase food in the aforementioned business through delivery, pickup or carry-out methods from showing proof of vaccination. The requirement applies only to clients consuming food inside enclosed venues.

Finally, Governor Pierluisi also announced a digital vaccination certificate that will be known as VACU ID. This digital vaccination certificate will be connected to the government’s vaccination data system and will allow businesses to validate that their clients have been inoculated. The VACU ID will operate within the Digital CESCO app (the Government’s app that contains the digital driver license) and will be available for Apple and Android devices starting today.