GULFPORT, Fla. — The management at a Gulfport restaurant is working to protect their workers and customers from the hepatitis A outbreak by making sure their staff gets vaccinated.
The owner of the Peninsula Inn and Isabelle's Restaurant owner Veronica Champion and the manager Cindy Clayton gave their staff at both the restaurant and the hotel two weeks to get the vaccine.
“When we first heard it about it, back in the beginning of May was when I first heard about it, Veronica and I decided we needed to be proactive versus reactive. We discussed it with the staff, and they all agreed. Everybody’s gone to get their vaccinations.” Clayton adds many of the workers' families, even her husband, have also gone to get the hepatitis A vaccine because they like to eat out.
Clayton told 10News she 100 percent recommends that other restaurants take the same steps.
Champion, who has more than 30 years in the hospitality business, echoes Clayton’s feeling that it's better to be safe than sorry.
“It’s safer for them, it’s safer for the customers. We don’t know exactly where it’s coming from. It could be coming from the suppliers. It could be coming from other restaurants.”
Champion said the workers were able to get the vaccine for free through the health department but had that not been an option, she would have helped pay for the costs.
Getting the vaccine is the best protection against the liver infection.
Good hand hygiene is also critical, especially for food service workers.
“It’s not just thank you for your business, we really want you to know that when you come here, we’re doing everything we can to make sure you have an excellent experience before, during and after your visit to Isabelle’s.”
While some restaurants are taking action, there's no law requiring the vaccine.
10News also reached out to dozens of lawmakers here in the Tampa Bay area at both the county and state levels to see if anyone is considering proposing requiring restaurant workers get vaccinated for hepatitis A.
In a statement, Hernando County commissioner John Allocco said, "The county health department is doing extensive outreach on hep-A and encouraging vaccination. Creation of a county ordinance would also require county "policing" and collection of health records of restaurant employees. Without a state mandate, I do not believe it is appropriate or necessary to expand Hernando County government into this role."
Commissioners in Pasco County said they're looking into the issue, and Polk and Manatee County commissioners say they would act if prompted to do so by the local health department.
A spokesman for Representative Darryl Rouson said he would support the legislation if any is filed in Tallahassee; however, the next regular legislative session isn’t until January.
Tampa Bay area health departments say fewer than five percent of all hepatitis A cases in Florida have been food service workers, and there are no confirmed cases of transmission from a food service worker to a customer.
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