Some SWFL businesses buying ‘I’m vaccinated’ stickers for employees

Rules for masks indoors at restaurants and stores are changing, including for employees serving customers. Businesses want to ensure customers continue to feel safe.

Just like the sticker you get when you’ve voted, some businesses told us they’ve already ordered stickers that say “I’m vaccinated.”

Businesses say the stickers will serve several purposes.

For more than a year the CDC said masks were essential. It’s become habit to wear them for many.

“It’s going to be new for people to be interacting with people without a mask after doing it for over a year,” said Doug Babcock, the CEO of Sanibel Captiva Beach Resorts.

But the guidelines changed Thursday. If you’re fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask outside or inside.

But how do you know if someone is vaccinated?

“We thought maybe it would be a good idea if we got a pin or a sticker to put on next to the name tag to say that I am double vaccinated,” Babcock said. “And you can rest assured that, you know, I am taking the steps to protect not only myself but also the people around me.”

The resort did not require any of its 225 employees to get the shot, but many chose to — 80% to be exact.

“If they are double vaccinated that they can no longer be required to wear the mask,” Babcock said.

At Timbers  Restaurant and Fish Market on Sanibel, Matt Asen told us his staff members are not required to wear a mask or get vaccinated, but most have chosen to do so.

“I think knowing that we’re vaccinated, and they’re vaccinated makes me a little more comfortable and and going in the right direction, Asen said.

Asen has already ordered his stickers.

“Maybe it’ll make the other people who have not been vaccinated choose to get vaccinated,” Asen said.

“I hope that a lot of other people follow suit and and get rid of the mask policy and start to move forward with getting on with their lives,” Babcock said.

Other businesses we spoke to told us they didn’t want to comment because the CDC changes are so recent they’re figuring out what its new policy is going to be.