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Pfizer BioNTech Vaccine

Restaurant Workers Are Wearing Bracelets To Prove They’ve Been Vaccinated 

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One restaurant in Philadelphia is attempting to make its customers feel more comfortable about returning to normalcy by requiring its vaccinated employees to wear a bracelet that makes it clear they’ve received their immunizations. 

El Merkury is the restaurant that’s having most of its employees wear a blue silicone bracelet with a QR code on the side of it that links directly to their proof of Covid-19 vaccination. The overall goal of this is to not only give the customers a greater peace of mind, but staff members as well. 

Sofia Deleon is the owner of El Merkury who spoke to local journalists this week regarding the new bracelets and how it’s providing staff and customers with an extra sense of security.

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“It was really important for me to have everybody vaccinated so that they could come back to work and really feel safe.”

The bracelets work by having the wearers upload their vaccination cards for review before they can receive the band itself. The documentation is stored on a server that is in compliance with medical privacy laws so users don;t have to worry about their information being shared. The process is end-to-end encrypted, providing the most security for users. 

ImmunaBand is the brand responsible for making these bracelets, and the company makes two types of bands. One of them just has the QR code while the other has the QR code plus the wearer’s name and type of vaccine they received. That code can easily be scanned by any smartphone’s camera for proof of vaccination. 

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Tashof Bernton is the president of ImmunaBand and recently spoke to CNN about how restaurants in Los Angeles and Pennsylvania specifically are buying the bands the most currently. 

“I hope the use of our bands will become more widespread to help demonstrate support for the vaccination program and help people feel more comfortable as the economy continues to reopen.”

Berton explained how the bracelets are simply a “way of saying ‘look I’m safe,’ and try to deescalate some of the tension and fear that people feel after a year in lockdown.” 

Even better, a portion of profits from the bands go directly to Covid relief and recover funds. Berton discussed how ImmunaBand “is a business, but it also really is about showing support for the vaccination program and doing what we can to bring us back together again as a society.”

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Radiohead Launches Digital “Public Library” to Chronicle Band’s History

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Radiohead is perhaps one of the world’s most influential rock bands of all time, as its groundbreaking records like “OK Computer,” “Kid A,” and “In Rainbows” have revolutionized not just the genre of alternative rock but also the way music is distributed and consumed. For years, however, the website radiohead.com has been relatively barren, including only links to buy records, merchandise, and concert tickets. The band has decided to change that by launching the “Radiohead Public Library,” which chronicles the band’s history by presenting a collage of various projects the band has worked on as well as documents relating to these projects, including promotional materials, recordings of concerts, and more. The website functions not only as a historical archive, but as a method for fans of the band to offer their support by purchasing music or merchandise, as many of the items presented on the “public library” contain links to online stores.

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Much of the content provided on the “public library” contains artwork produced by Stanley Donwood, a longtime collaborator of the band who is known for his abstract, psychedelic artwork that has given the band’s album artwork its distinctive look. The artwork for the “King of Limbs” record, for instance, depicts otherworldly ghostlike figures among a woodland backdrop, matching the album’s themes of nature and alienation, and the artwork for “OK Computer” depicts an abstract representation of a highway, corresponding with the record’s themes of modernity and transportation. While the “public library” offers visitors an opportunity to purchase music and merchandise, it also offers a lot of free content, including free streams of music and recordings of previous concerts. While the collection of content available on the digital library is expansive, it does not contain everything, as some limited-edition music releases as well as solo projects created by the band’s members are not included.

Radiohead is no stranger to unusual methods of distributing their content. “In Rainbows,” which came out in 2007 long before the advent of streaming services like Spotify, was released via a website that allowed customers to pay whatever they felt was appropriate, including nothing, in exchange for a link to download the songs. The band’s experiment ended up being tremendously successful, as “In Rainbows” became one of Radiohead’s most critically-acclaimed and financially successful albums. “The King of Limbs,” meanwhile, was offered in a unique “newspaper edition,” which included a CD, two vinyl records, and a newspaper included fictional and poetic news stories. While “The King of Limbs” was mostly well-received, this experimental distribution method proved to be less successful than the one pioneered for “In Rainbows.”

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Given the band’s decades-long history and the large number of albums they’ve released over the years, it’s no surprise that Radiohead is interested in taking a look back at their expansive career and sharing their history with fans. The “public library” also represents an economic opportunity for the band, as they are reissuing old t-shirts as well as other merchandise on their store. Given the band’s massive and enthusiastic fan base, this merchandise is likely to sell out quickly, so if you’re interested in picking up a Radiohead-themed t-shirt or hoodie, now is the time to do so.