THE EDITOR: Perhaps the Prime Minister, Attorney General, Minister of Health and CMO might care to answer this question: do covid19 vaccines prevent transmission and spread? Evidently they are all of the opinion that they do, hence the mandates for reopening the entertainment and other sectors and labelling them "safe zones."

Let me ask: if these zones are "safe" due to the fact that patrons and employees will be vaccinated, then why the restrictions? Why half capacity? Why no consumption of alcohol on the premises? By their own definition the zones are safe, so there should be no restrictions.

If, on the other hand, the PM and the others admit that the vaccines were designed and are intended to prevent serious illness and death, and not transmission, then the zones are in fact not transmission-free zones, and they are therefore discriminating against the unvaccinated and are restricting the number of customers at these establishments for no good reason. So, which is it?

Also, gyms and cinemas usually have front desk workers and ticket collectors at or near their entrances. Bars, however, do not. Yet the regulation states that unvaccinated people are not allowed "within the premises" of these places. So, what are bar owners supposed to do - hire an additional employee and station that person outside to check vaccination cards? Or may they be checked at the bar or at the table before customers are served?

Surely the PM, AG, Health Minister, CMO can't expect bar owners, who have suffered the most from pandemic restrictions, to hire an additional employee specifically for that, or to sacrifice an existing worker from behind the bar to stand outside all day.

One more thing: since unvaccinated people are not allowed on the premises, owners of these "safe zone" establishments should be within their rights to prevent any unvaccinated police officer or public-health employee from entering the premises to check everyone else's vaccination status - correct?

C MENDES

St Ann's