The National Restaurant Association is committed to safeguarding the health and welfare of its attendees, partners, and team members attending official external events organized or conducted by the Association and has established policies in order to comply with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance as well as applicable local requirements.
The Mayor of the District of Columbia recently signed Mayor’s Order 2021-148 (Order) requiring city wide proof of vaccination in order to enter certain indoor business premises, including hotel meeting rooms, conference center meeting halls, convention centers, and shared work facilities. A summary of the Order and the requirements of the mandate can be accessed here.
As a result, all registrants, guests and staff attending the Public Affairs Conference, or other events organized or conducted by the Association in DC will be required to:
- Provide official proof of being fully vaccinated as specified by the Order (two doses will be required by the date of the Public Affairs Conference) against COVID-19; or
- Request and demonstrate a medical or religious exemption, by:
- providing adequate documentation of such medical exemption (such as a note from a medical provider) or religious exemption (such as an attestation of sincerely held religious belief), AND
- providing proof of a negative COVID-19 test (PCR or Antigen) taken within 24 hours of entry into a business covered by the Order. Please note that the 24 hour requirement may require a new test each day to enter covered businesses.
After registering for the meeting or event, you will receive an email instructing you as to how to upload your (a) proof of vaccination, or (b) if applying for a medical or religious exemption, documentation of such exemption and negative test with our third-party service provider, CrowdPass. In order to maintain the health and safety of our staff, we WILL NOT be able to verify vaccine or testing status in person at the event. All attendees must have verified their status through the service provider.
Attendees should also keep and maintain their proof of vaccination or exemption/testing documentation with them at all times, as third party DC Businesses will require proof of such to enter their premises
If the Order is ended by the Mayor before the Public Affairs Conference, we will inform all registered guests.
As with all of our events, the Association will also require registrants to accept an Event Acknowledgment Waiver and Release (COVID and Likeness) at the same time as the vaccine or testing information upload process, and to comply with all state or local health or mask mandates in place for the event location.