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(NEW YORK) — Requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to eat at a restaurant, go to a movie or take part in other indoor group activities may have a ripple effect, according to researchers.

A study published Monday in Lancet Public Health found that some countries that implemented “COVID-19 certifications” such as vaccine passports providing proof of complete vaccination, a negative COVID-19 test or a COVID-19 recovery certificate saw an increase in the number of people getting their shots.

The study, which looked at vaccination rates in France, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany where such certifications were made mandatory, found there were major jumps in the number of vaccine doses given once the rules were put in place.

“Overall, we observed a significant uptick in anticipation of restrictions coming into place around 20 days before introduction, which lasted up to 40 days after,” Melinda Mills, director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science at the University of Oxford and the study’s lead author, said in a statement.

Researchers said the data showed a significant increase in the number of vaccine doses per million people: 127,000 in France, over 243,000 in Israel, over 64,000 in Switzerland and over 66,000 in Italy.

There was a significant increase in vaccinations among people under 30, the study found. Researchers believe COVID-19 certifications used at leisure and hospitality spots, such as nightclubs, likely precipitated the jump in younger people.

“We know that certain groups have lower vaccine uptake than others and it may be that COVID-19 certification is a useful way to encourage vaccine complacent groups, like young people and men, to get vaccinated,” Dr. Tobias Rüttenauer, one of the study’s co-authors, said in a statement.

Researchers noted the study had some limitations. For instance, there was no data available to examine vaccine uptake by sociodemographic, gender and ethnic groups. Researchers also acknowledged concerns that COVID-19 certifications raises the “risk of exacerbating inequalities among certain ethnic or socioeconomic groups that have lower uptake and trust in authorities.”

The study recommends that other measures should be used to complement the COVID-19 certification, such as vaccine drives targeted at hesitant groups.

“COVID-19 certification is only part of a constellation of multiple policy levers that could be used to counter vaccine complacency and hesitancy and increase uptake,” the researchers wrote.

Anyone who needs help scheduling a free vaccine appointment can log onto vaccines.gov.

Alexis E. Carrington, M.D., an ABC News Medical Unit associate producer and a rising dermatology resident at George Washington University, contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Victims of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar reached a $380 million settlement with USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and their insurers on Monday, a lawyer representing some of the victims said.

This decision brings the total compensation the victims have received to $880 billion following the May 2018 settlement reached with Michigan State University, where Nassar was a former employee.

Lead attorney John Manly in a statement credited the resolution to the courage and tenacity of the survivors, who he said “relived their abuse publicly, in countless media interviews” to prevent others from facing similar abuse.

The settlement also included some nonmonetary provisions, including a restorative justice program that USAG has committed to establishing in collaboration with the victims, giving them influence over the organization’s sexual assault procedures, according to ESPN.

Attorney Rachel Denhollander, the first woman to accuse Nassar, lauded the nonmonetary provisions in a tweet.

“This represents so much hard work from members of the committee and I am eager to see these changes through,” she wrote.

USAG also committed to having at least one survivor in their Board of Directors, Safe Sport Committee and Athlete Health and Wellness Council, among other commitments, a statement from the organization said.

“The Plan of Reorganization that we jointly filed reflects our own accountability to the past and our commitment to the future,” USAG President and CEO Li Li Leung said.

In a statement provided to ABC News, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said she was grateful to have reached a resolution and praised the women who raised their voices against Nassar.

“We have the deepest respect for the tremendous strength and bravery these women have shown. We recognize our role in failing to protect these athletes, and we are sorry for the profound hurt they have endured,” Hirshland said.

Manly said the victims’ fight for justice has not ended with this settlement, as a recent investigation also shed light on the role the FBI played in protecting Nassar.

In September 2021, gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman testified before the Senate over the alleged failures of the FBI in handling the case against Nassar.

“There is one more chapter yet to be written, the criminal prosecution of the FBI officials who failed to investigate and stop Nassar together with the USAG and USOPC officials who conspired with them to impede the investigation,” Manly said.

“We will continue to pursue justice on behalf of the hundreds of little girls and young women who were molested as a direct result of their obstruction of justice,” he added.

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(NEW YORK) — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is expected to plead guilty on federal civil rights charges in the death of George Floyd on Wednesday, Dec. 15, according to a court filing added to the case docket Monday. He had previously pleaded not guilty.

Former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao were also charged, and the three of them have pleaded not guilty.

A grand jury indicted the four of them for depriving Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force when they saw him lying on the ground “in clear need” of medical care but “willfully failed to aid Floyd, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm.”

They were attempting to place him under arrest on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes at a convenience store.

During the encounter, Chauvin held his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes. Floyd, who was handcuffed and in a prone position on the pavement, repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe, before falling unconscious and losing a pulse, according to evidence presented at Chauvin’s state trial. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Video footage — from police body cameras, security cameras and civilian witnesses — played at the trial, showed Kueng and Lane helping Chauvin hold Floyd down, and Thao keeping away witnesses who were expressing concerns for Floyd.

In April, Chauvin, 45, was found guilty on three counts in Floyd’s death — second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter — for pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes.

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