Vail Resorts: Where COVID-19 only spreads in peasant, cafeteria-style dining.

If you’ve been on the mountain this season and tried to grab a bite to eat inside of one of Vail Resorts’ many on-mountain dining facilities, you will notice a new policy: proof of vaccination is required for certain cafeteria-style dining facilities (such as Vista House or Ski Hill Grill on Breckenridge Peak 8). However, if you can afford the more expensive menu at full-service dining (such as TBar at Peak 8 or Sevens at Peak 7), no proof of vaccination is required.

The official policy per Vail Resorts’ website is: “Guests ages 12 and over will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations to dine at our indoor, cafeteria-style restaurants.”

How foolish is the American public to believe that this virus can only spread in cafeteria-style dining facilities (vaccine required) as opposed to full-service restaurants (no vaccine required)? This policy is completely unfounded when considering the science of the way this virus spreads. Also, given that we now know vaccinated individuals can acquire and transmit COVID-19, what is the purpose of this policy?

Not only does this policy make no sense (either the virus spreads indoors or it doesn’t — pick one), but it is also discriminatory by class, as a less wealthy guest is more unlikely to be able to afford full-service dining. In addition, it is also medically discriminatory as there are many people who — for various reasons: religious, medical, etc. — are unable to get vaccinated. Furthermore, it completely ignores extremely robust, natural immunity to COVID-19, something that millions of Americans possess.

I implore Vail Resorts to rescind its “vaccine required” policy for cafeteria-style dining facilities. Besides not being backed by science, it is extremely discriminatory and damages the overall experience for guests.