Vaccinated Fans Pack SAP Center For Sharks NHL Exhibition Season Opener
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Armed with their vaccination cards, San Jose Sharks fans flocked to SAP Center Tuesday night for the first full capacity game in more than 18 months.
And it didn't seem to matter to them the squad dropped its exhibition opener 4-3 to the Los Angeles Kings.
Fans had to have more than their tickets at the ready when they walked into the venue. Under Santa Clara County guidelines for indoor venues, fans need to show proof of vaccination.
The Sharks partnered with CLEAR to create a "health pass account" for quicker entry.
"This makes it so easy to get in, the app's easy to download and I feel safe going in to SAP," said Tara Loesch of Morgan Hill.
"I'm a nurse, so we all have to do our part if we want to be enjoying this and be out in public," said Claudia Gasca of San Jose. "We all need to do our part, so I'm totally okay with that."
Since fans under 12 are not yet eligible for vaccinations, they're exempt. They also do not need to show a negative test result.
"The more people vaccinated the better, and this is an easy way to show whether you've been vaccinated," said Chris Loesch of Morgan Hill.
Jimmy Torres said this will likely be his last game at SAP.
"This here is just ridiculous. I just don't believe we should be showing vaccine reports, even though I am vaccinated," he said.
When asked if the policy was invasive:
"Yes, yes, it's really - not unless they want to show me all their vaccinations, not their COVID vaccinations, but their chicken pox, or measles," he added.
All fans are required to wear face masks inside SAP Center. No bandanas or gaiters were allowed.
Many fans were already wearing their masks outside.
"I'm glad that we moved towards this direction and standing for vaccinations so that we can enjoy ourselves, and making sure everyone's still being safe and the virus isn't mutating," said Yvette Licea of Mountain View.