The Barnes, Art Museum and others announce new policies to align with Philly’s new vaccination mandate

More and more Philadelphia museums are instituting a vaccination requirement for visitors.

Stephan Salisbury, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Not wasting any time following the announcement last month of a January vaccination mandate for Philadelphia’s diners, the Penn Museum announced on Dec. 17 that it was tightening its own COVID-19 restrictions for visitors.

Beginning Jan. 4, museum officials said, visitors five years old and up would be required to show proof of vaccination for admission to the museum itself — not simply to the museum café. The decision was driven, the museum said, by the city’s Dec. 13 announcement of a COVID-19 mandate requiring proof of vaccination for admission to all Philadelphia eateries and areas where food is sold and consumed onsite.

COVID-19 policies at cultural institutions across Philadelphia, which have been a hodgepodge, are now gradually coming into alignment as a result, at least in part, of the city mandate.