‘We copped a lot of heat’: businesses respond to scrapping of vaccine mandate

Hospitality houses in Dalby are rejoicing as the Covid vaccine mandate is set to ends in restaurants, pubs and cafes, with industry leaders revealing they and their staff have had to cop nasty attacks and take a hefty hit on business due to the strict rules.

The days of scanning a barcode and showing your ‘green tick of approval’ are almost over and it’s given Dalby businesses a reason to celebrate.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the vaccinate mandate in the hospitality industry is being scrapped From April 14, allowing unvaccinated patrons inside venues.

Dalby businesses say the change is a welcome relief, after months of dealing with disgruntled patrons who opposed the mandates.

Leagues Club operations manager Krystal Steinohrt said the club had been on the receiving end of horrible abuse over past months.

“A lot of people used to try and sneak in, we had altercations, we copped a lot of heat, and Facebook was very nasty,” she said.

“People were getting on and saying ‘don’t support that business’, but we’re not the issue.”

She said the mandate scrapping would be huge relief.

“We welcome it. It takes a big stress off us as we don’t have to make sure that everyone that’s walking through that door is double-vaccinated,” she said.

The Dalby Leagues Club assistant to the operations manager, Krystal Steinohrt Picture: Emily Devon

While the team at The Butcher’s Pantry weren’t impacted by the mandate due to being an outdoor-seated cafe, they’ll be happy customers without having to show their certificates.

“We went to the Leagues Club for lunch one day where you have to show your vaccination and I had to drive my son to go get his because he doesn’t have it on his phone,” owner Elisha Beil said.

Criterion Hotel manager Ben O’Callaghan is hoping to welcome back staff that left their jobs when the mandate was originally enforced.

“We lost four staff because they didn’t want to be vaccinated,” he said.

“I don’t think it should be put on businesses who are doing it tough already.

“ I think two of them have moved on, but the other two might come back.”

Mr O’Callaghan said the business also took a hit due to large bookings being cancelled due to the mandates.

“If they had a table of 20 and then they had five people who weren’t vaccinated, they’d cancel the whole thing,” he said.

Russell Tavern’s assistant manager Charlie Thomas said the team was excited to avoid time-consuming processes that surrounded the rules.

“For lunches and dinners there’s only three people on, and if we’re busy we’ve got to make sure that someone’s still at the door checking,” she said.

“We’ll have more customers because the people who aren’t vaccinated will get to come, which is cool.”