OpenTable works with Clear to verify the status of Covid vaccine for restaurant visitors

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The online restaurant reservation service said this week that when a user makes a reservation through their iPhone or Android apps, they will soon see a “Delete” banner at the top of the booking confirmation if the restaurant has a vaccine requirement. By clicking on the banner, users will be taken to a page with information on how to register for a free digital vaccine card provided by Clear. OpenTable plans to add the feature to its iPhone and Android apps in September, hoping it will make it easier for users to prove they are vaccinated.

As the Delta variant is altering restaurants
The announcement comes at a time when several cities (New York, San Francisco and New Orleans) require vaccination tests or a recent negative Covid test to enter certain types of covered venues, such as restaurants, as the pandemic unfolds. increases with the highly contagious. Delta variant. Meanwhile, a growing number of companies, including many restaurants, are establishing their own vaccination mandates. Currently, OpenTable lists on its website 450 restaurants across the United States that require domestic diners to be vaccinated against Covid.

While Clear is best known for its program to accelerate travelers through airport security, it is among a large number of companies offering applications designed to prove that a person has been vaccinated against Covid. The digital vaccine card is part of Clear’s existing mobile app and can store an image of a US-based CDC Covid-19 vaccination registration card and link to vaccination tests from various providers. vaccines and pharmacies.

To register, you must scan a passport or ID card and send a selfie, as well as allow Clear to use facial recognition technology to verify your identity. Those who sign up for the digital vaccine card do not have to be members of Clear’s paid airport security product, which uses biometric data to identify travelers who use it.

In an interview Wednesday with CNN’s Erica Hill, OpenTable CEO Debby Soo said the company’s partnership with Clear is one of many tools designed to help restaurants get through the pandemic.

“As you can imagine, providing good hospitality is a challenge in normal times, but during the pandemic and various stages of the pandemic, it has been incredibly difficult to keep abreast of all the changes, pivoting and now for restaurants in some cities such as New York and San Francisco, providing vaccination tests, “he said.

According to the OpenTable count, so far the number of seated diners has decreased by 11% in the United States compared to July, Soo said. The covid cases, which fell sharply in the spring, shot up again in the summer due to the rapid expansion of the Delta variant.

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