Some Mexican states requiring vaccination and testing to enter indoor venues

Throughout the pandemic, Mexico has remained quite lax in terms of its entry restrictions and COVID-19, welcoming international arrivals by air even while its land borders were closed to nonessential travelers until November of last year.

Now, with the highly-contagious Omicron variant rounding the globe, and causing a record-shattering number of new cases and hospitalizations in the neighboring U.S., multiple Mexican states are recommending or requiring that patrons be vaccinated to enter many indoor venues.

In the state of Jalisco—home to popular tourism destinations Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit—Governor Enrique Alfaro Ramírez ordered establishments to begin requiring patrons to present proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test (valid for a 48 hours only) to enter certain public places, including bars, clubs, casinos and stadiums. The new policy, announced on January 10, went into effect on Friday and applies to everyone aged 18 and older.

At the same time, Ramírez ordered the suspension of all mass festivities, street parties, fairs, dances, carnivals and pilgrimages until February 12, and reduced permissible stadium capacities to 60 percent.

On the same day, the small state of Tlaxcala—situated in central Mexico to the east of Mexico City—also mandated new local restrictions, which require people to provide proof that they’ve received at least one dose of a vaccine in order to enter indoor venues like bars, restaurants, supermarkets, shopping centers, hotels and others. According to Forbes Mexico. At the same time, bars and restaurants will be limited to 50 percent capacity indoors and 70 percent in outdoor areas.

According to Travel + Leisure, the government of Baja California (the northernmost state on the Baja peninsula) has also advised businesses to start requiring proof of vaccination or a PCR test no more than five days old to enter their establishments, but it did not make the recommendation compulsory. Instead, it said it would leave the decision up to individual business owners. “Baja California authorities fully trust the responsibility of small, medium and large Baja California entrepreneurs,” it expressed in an official statement.

Mexico itself has hit an all-time high for COVID-19 infections during its latest reporting period, with a daily average of over 33,600 new cases. Reuters’ vaccination tracker reports that just over 58 percent of Mexico’s population is now fully vaccinated.