The second day of the vaccine economy trial appears to have gone smoothly in the City of Greater Bendigo with the public largely complying with the double-vaccinated rules.
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The Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo Cinemas, Body Fit Training and Anglican Church in Flora Hill are the venues taking part in the two-week trial allowing for larger gatherings for people who have been double jabbed against COVID-19.
The art gallery joined the trial on Tuesday and director Jessica Bridgfoot was pleased with how it went.
She said a lot of gallery patrons arrived having already downloaded the link to their mobile phones.
"They had the vaccine passport function on their phone or brought in a printed certificate," Ms Bridgfoot said.
"There were a few who weren't prepared so some people have gone away disappointed, but the majority complied with the new arrangements.
"We even had some people come in just to test the technology, to see if the QR check-in works on their phone."
Ms Bridgfoot said the trial had resulted in a lot of intrigue and positive interest, particularly with NSW gradually reopening its economy after a lengthy COVID0-19 lockdown.
"Obviously being part of a trial it's a warm up for what Victorians are moving towards," she said.
Ms Bridgfoot said the first day of the trial was pretty much a regular Tuesday for the gallery in terms of visitor numbers.
"The Brett Whiteley and Soul Fury exhibitions are both doing well but our visitations are affected whenever Melbourne is in lockdown," she said.
"You do lose the day-trippers and overnight stays but we are noticing a strong and healthy regional audience coming in."
The vaccine economy trial has attracted some backlash on social media, but Ms Bridgfoot has defended the gallery's involvement.
"I'm not going to speak to everyone's reason to choose to vaccinate or not," she said.
"But we are operating under a public health order.
"We are a public institution and have to operate in a safe environment.
"The positives outweigh the negatives. It's easy to throw stones sitting behind a computer but it's a very small minority. The vaccination stats attest to that.
"For every one dissenter online there's nine or 10 saying it's great to see the art gallery taking a leadership role.
"We've even had people come in and express their appreciation to us."
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