NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — "No card, no entry." Those words are written in bold, capital letters on a sign displayed outside of Deborah Nguyen’s Bohemia boutique in Newport Beach.

While not everyone is happy with Nguyen’s business decision, she said she's not folding.

"People are saying they’ve already gotten COVID and they’re not going to give it to me, and 'what’s my problem,'" said Nguyen. "I have a problem because I have the community."

The shop owner said the sign in front of her store is about keeping her clients healthy. Nguyen buzzes in clients through a locked gate outside her store after they show her their COVID-19 vaccination cards.

After opening and closing for months during the pandemic, Nguyen reopened her store in March, but it was difficult to get people to wear their masks or keep them on. When she tried opening to clients who scheduled appointments, she would spend a lot of time sanitizing and cleaning between her clients.

Therefore, Nguyen decided to keep it simple and ask people to flash their proof of vaccination to enter the store, and they wouldn’t have to wear a mask inside.

"Whatever I did was probably right," she said. "I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t take it home to my family and I was still able to survive, and then I got a loan to float the business."

It didn’t take long for news about Nguyen’s business decision to start making waves online. People have been leaving bad reviews about her business, calling her a tyrant and citing that she’s violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, however, generally applies to health care plans and providers, not grocery or clothing stores like Nguyen’s. Federal laws don't restrict private businesses like Nguyen’s from asking for proof of vaccination.

"It’s not about keeping people out, or it’s racist, Newsom Nazi, all kinds of names, all these hashtags that you guys do. It doesn’t really matter to me," Nguyen said. "At the end of the day, it’s the health of the community and then my store because the community supports the store."

Nguyen is also trying to protect her parents, who quarantined at her house, and younger family members like her nephew, who has asthma.

"What if I get this little kid sick? When he’s already sneezing and wheezing, he can’t breathe, I’m already scared to death. Imagine if he has COVID and he’s in the hospital, and I put him there," she said. 

While many people are upset, Nguyen said there are people who are supporting her beachside business by leaving comments to let her know they're on her side and by supporting her store.

"Things are getting better and things are looking up, so I’m going to stick to this because it’s what I believe in, and that’s the bottom line," she said.

Nguyen has owned Bohemia for more than 15 years. It’s one of three businesses she’s brought to Orange County. She doesn’t know when she’ll stop checking vaccination cards but said she’ll continue to do what she feels is right.

Bohemia is located on 613 E Balboa Blvd. in Newport Beach, Calif. To learn more about Nguyen’s store, visit here.