When anti-vax propagandist and rightwing darling Candace Owens (photo, left) tried to get a Covid-19 test, the testing site’s owner said no. (Read story here.)
“My team and myself have worked overtime, to exhaustion, unpaid and underpaid this past year, spending our own capital to ensure that our community remains protected. It would be unfair to them and to the sacrifices we have all made this year to serve you,” she told Owens in a written letter.
She did give Owens information about where she could get tested.
Businesses don’t have to serve everyone who walks in the door. They can refuse service to anyone, for any reason, as long as they don’t violate federal or state anti-discrimination laws. Unvaccinated people aren’t a protected class under those laws.
They’re being excluded from restaurants, bars, and other establishments (see story here). That’s to protect other patrons, because the unvaccinated are likely to be spreaders.
But this rejection more likely reflects the vaccinated community’s growing frustration and anger with anti-vaxxers (see story here). The testing site’s owner clearly wanted to send a message: We’re fed up with people like you.
Vaccine resistance isn’t just a matter of personal choice. They’re hurting others. Vaccinated people can get infected from them. We all get stuck with their hospital bills. They’re prolonging the pandemic and hurting the economy.
But mostly, a private business can choose its customers and patrons. And they don’t have to be polite about it.
No brains, no service.