Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Friday, February 05, 2021
Can Planners Mandate Covid Vaccinations for Attendees?
www.meetingsnet.com: As the Covid-19 vaccination program rolls out over the course of 2021, meeting planners might be considering vaccination requirements for their in-person attendees. Is that legal?
I think the idea of requiring people to get the vaccine to attend any sort of event is an interesting one. On one hand, it is still a risk because the vaccine might not be effective against all strains, and it takes time for it to be effective. I personally am biased as I will be getting the vaccine as soon as it is available to me. I would like to see as many people vaccinated as possible, but I don’t think it will just cure the pandemic. Part of the article made me wonder if groups are interested in doing this for the safety of their attendees, for the liability, or a combination of both, especially in looking at companies requiring Covid waivers as if it were a safety waiver at a trampoline park. I do think that requiring proof of a vaccine is better than proof of a negative test, because someone could have easily gotten covid since their result or have covid but not have it showing up yet on a test. I think requiring proof is a start but it is not foolproof, and people still need to make smart choices and keep up with safe practices.
I agree very much with Ariel. Currently, vaccines are not known to be protective against all the various strains of COVID and it takes time to be effective. Further more they are not one hundred percent effective and it seems that if you have the vaccine it is still possible to transmit the virus to other people. I think that eventually in the future it is smart to require proof of vaccination once everyone is vaccinated but before some sort of herd immunity is achieved other safety measures should still be utilized. I worry that people will think that the vaccine will fix everything and that they will let their guard down and stop distancing, wearing masks etc. I hope that people realized at this point in time they are not a fool proof method, again like Ariel says above. I think like the article says it will be hard to enforce this, as there is not a standard for the vaccination cards. I am curious to see what the future holds regarding public events and vaccines. While vaccines may not be foolproof I think that they are a sign of hope, that we're moving in the right direction.
While I do have my own personal opinion on whether or not vaccinations should be required to participate in certain events and gatherings, I think it is really interesting to consider the potential legal questions surrounding this issue. I am really curious to see how companies, schools, and federal, state, and local governments start handling this issue. Vaccination in general is already a controversial topic, and I am confident that COVID vaccinations will be just as controversial, if not more so. I do wonder how far vaccination requirements might go. Will you be required to provide vaccination proof when you go into a store? I personally think that every person who is medically able to get vaccinated should, but there are definitely a lot of legal and ethical questions surrounding this issue. It is definitely going to be very interesting to watch this debate unfold, and I hope that everyone has the safety of the community in mind while we consider this question.
This seems to be an issue in all walks of life, not just in events. The article didn’t really talk about events too much, but rather the ideas requiring vaccination for all sorts of things, school, work, flying, or shopping. I’ve been dubious that the vaccination card released by the CDC is adequate as any means of proof. Not wanting to lose my card, I photo-copied my vaccination card to carry with me just in case there is any question, but I think the only true reliable way of proving it would be to have some sort of registry based on your driver's license. Additionally, the argument that HIPAA protects people from having to share their information is bogus and anyone who says that either is lying or doesn’t understand HIPAA. The purpose of that set of laws is to keep healthcare providers from sharing patient information without the express consent of the patient, but offers no protection from being requested to have a certain vaccine. CMU requires us to have all sorts of vaccines and one can get around it if they jump through lots of hoops.
I am really in favor of requiring proof of vaccinations for specific events like they talk about in the article. At this point, vaccinating everyone is really the only way we can end this pandemic and everyone needs to get on board with that. If they can not get on board with that then they should not be allowed to risk exposing others in the public because they chose not to get the vaccine. I really am interested in some of the ways they were talking about having proof of being vaccinated or tested with the digital document on CommonPass. This is something that, in theory, could be awesome, but they are going to have to work on making it accessible to all people equally. The article did not mention this but I think including the proof of vaccination or negative PCR could be implemented into the online ticketing platforms for shows. When you go to buy your ticket you could upload something to prove you were vaccinated or something like that. I am interested to see what comes of this.
I do question the true capability for event planners to actually require vaccines, especially since the topic of vaccines has become a very hot issue in the past few years even outside of the current pandemic. I mean, look at the issue plaguing stores and businesses that require just masks and the resistance to lock down and mask mandates from state governors across the country to see the potential challenges vaccination requirements might face. Regardless, it is nice to theorize about how such requirements might be done effectively, and understanding the legality of such requirements is a good idea if they ever were to be implemented. The section about alternative methods of verification or other preventative measures if a person had religious reasons or allergies that prevented them from getting a vaccine was especially interesting because not allowing such people attendance or concessions of some form would amount to little else but discrimination.
I think requiring the vaccine for certain events or locations is a great idea. In some cases, as outlined in the article, like those with disabilities, allergies, or religious beliefs that prevent them from receiving the vaccine, I do not see much trouble with handling those instances on an individual basis, but policies will need to be upheld if dealing with those cases proves too much for venues and turns discriminatory. Yes, a vaccine does not magically get rid of COVID from the world, but it at least provides a lot more peace of mind and prevents risk to oneself individually. It would also be great for anti-vaxxers and maskers to finally see a consequence to their actions, as everyday places like airports start upholding vaccine requirements. Requiring the vaccine is one big step toward public safety, and if a tiny portion of privacy needs to be upended for the greater good, so be it.
I agree that requiring the covid 19 vaccination is a great and important step in moving our way toward inside events and gathering that are necessary to keep the entertainment industry alive. I feel that this is a issue of common sense, If someone wants to participate in an inside event with out social distancing to see a performance or attend a gathering, they would need to show proof of vaccination as a way to prove that they wouldn't be putting themselves or others in danger of creating a super-spreader event. One thing that I have been thinking about recently is how log it's going to take people to create counterfeit vaccination cards and fake that they have the vaccine. I also want to see what institutions are going to require proof of vaccination, such as school, universities, work places, etc. Another thing that I found interesting in the article is that the attorney that was interviewed for the article said that from a legal standpoint, asking for vaccination for participating in certain events is legal.
I find it so frustrating that this is even a question. We require vaccines for children to go to school, so now that we have a covid vaccine, why wouldn’t we require it as it becomes commonly available. This idea that we can’t force people to get vaccinated because “oh no we must protect personal liberties at all costs, and my religion is which apparently more important than the safety of others, and we might become a police state” (he said sarcastically) is ridiculous. If people genuinely cared about protected personal information and civil liberties, they would be calling to break up Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, abolish personalized ads, and cease the selling of our tracked internet data. That’s what would turn us into a police state, not making sure we had a vaccine. I don’t care about HIPAA and I don’t care about your religion. The only situation where you shouldn’t have to get vaccinated is if you’re allergic to it. Now can we please just move on.
Reading the other comments, it is interesting to see where all the opinions came from in the height of the pandemic, where everything, including the vaccine, was uncertain. However, commenting now from 2021, I believe that theatres should require vaccinations unless there is a medical, religious, or other reason. It is the policy now adopted by most colleges and places of work, but it was interesting to see the debates before the vaccine was verified. It was also enlightening to read the potential discrimination cases in the article because it is something I have not thought of before. The reason being is because I feel that the “exemption to the vaccine requirement” has been too often treated as a “loophole” rather than a real serious reason to not receive the vaccine. However, I see how it can affect those who cannot absolutely receive the vaccine, and how that can be isolating and exclusionary. However, despite this, I think my opinion still stands, that all those who are able to should receive the vaccine and it should be required in theatres, in order to ensure the safety of not only the performers, but the backstage crew as well, who often don’t have good health insurance.
11 comments:
I think the idea of requiring people to get the vaccine to attend any sort of event is an interesting one. On one hand, it is still a risk because the vaccine might not be effective against all strains, and it takes time for it to be effective. I personally am biased as I will be getting the vaccine as soon as it is available to me. I would like to see as many people vaccinated as possible, but I don’t think it will just cure the pandemic. Part of the article made me wonder if groups are interested in doing this for the safety of their attendees, for the liability, or a combination of both, especially in looking at companies requiring Covid waivers as if it were a safety waiver at a trampoline park. I do think that requiring proof of a vaccine is better than proof of a negative test, because someone could have easily gotten covid since their result or have covid but not have it showing up yet on a test. I think requiring proof is a start but it is not foolproof, and people still need to make smart choices and keep up with safe practices.
I agree very much with Ariel. Currently, vaccines are not known to be protective against all the various strains of COVID and it takes time to be effective. Further more they are not one hundred percent effective and it seems that if you have the vaccine it is still possible to transmit the virus to other people. I think that eventually in the future it is smart to require proof of vaccination once everyone is vaccinated but before some sort of herd immunity is achieved other safety measures should still be utilized. I worry that people will think that the vaccine will fix everything and that they will let their guard down and stop distancing, wearing masks etc. I hope that people realized at this point in time they are not a fool proof method, again like Ariel says above. I think like the article says it will be hard to enforce this, as there is not a standard for the vaccination cards. I am curious to see what the future holds regarding public events and vaccines. While vaccines may not be foolproof I think that they are a sign of hope, that we're moving in the right direction.
While I do have my own personal opinion on whether or not vaccinations should be required to participate in certain events and gatherings, I think it is really interesting to consider the potential legal questions surrounding this issue. I am really curious to see how companies, schools, and federal, state, and local governments start handling this issue. Vaccination in general is already a controversial topic, and I am confident that COVID vaccinations will be just as controversial, if not more so. I do wonder how far vaccination requirements might go. Will you be required to provide vaccination proof when you go into a store? I personally think that every person who is medically able to get vaccinated should, but there are definitely a lot of legal and ethical questions surrounding this issue. It is definitely going to be very interesting to watch this debate unfold, and I hope that everyone has the safety of the community in mind while we consider this question.
This seems to be an issue in all walks of life, not just in events. The article didn’t really talk about events too much, but rather the ideas requiring vaccination for all sorts of things, school, work, flying, or shopping. I’ve been dubious that the vaccination card released by the CDC is adequate as any means of proof. Not wanting to lose my card, I photo-copied my vaccination card to carry with me just in case there is any question, but I think the only true reliable way of proving it would be to have some sort of registry based on your driver's license. Additionally, the argument that HIPAA protects people from having to share their information is bogus and anyone who says that either is lying or doesn’t understand HIPAA. The purpose of that set of laws is to keep healthcare providers from sharing patient information without the express consent of the patient, but offers no protection from being requested to have a certain vaccine. CMU requires us to have all sorts of vaccines and one can get around it if they jump through lots of hoops.
I am really in favor of requiring proof of vaccinations for specific events like they talk about in the article. At this point, vaccinating everyone is really the only way we can end this pandemic and everyone needs to get on board with that. If they can not get on board with that then they should not be allowed to risk exposing others in the public because they chose not to get the vaccine. I really am interested in some of the ways they were talking about having proof of being vaccinated or tested with the digital document on CommonPass. This is something that, in theory, could be awesome, but they are going to have to work on making it accessible to all people equally. The article did not mention this but I think including the proof of vaccination or negative PCR could be implemented into the online ticketing platforms for shows. When you go to buy your ticket you could upload something to prove you were vaccinated or something like that. I am interested to see what comes of this.
I do question the true capability for event planners to actually require vaccines, especially since the topic of vaccines has become a very hot issue in the past few years even outside of the current pandemic. I mean, look at the issue plaguing stores and businesses that require just masks and the resistance to lock down and mask mandates from state governors across the country to see the potential challenges vaccination requirements might face. Regardless, it is nice to theorize about how such requirements might be done effectively, and understanding the legality of such requirements is a good idea if they ever were to be implemented. The section about alternative methods of verification or other preventative measures if a person had religious reasons or allergies that prevented them from getting a vaccine was especially interesting because not allowing such people attendance or concessions of some form would amount to little else but discrimination.
I think requiring the vaccine for certain events or locations is a great idea. In some cases, as outlined in the article, like those with disabilities, allergies, or religious beliefs that prevent them from receiving the vaccine, I do not see much trouble with handling those instances on an individual basis, but policies will need to be upheld if dealing with those cases proves too much for venues and turns discriminatory. Yes, a vaccine does not magically get rid of COVID from the world, but it at least provides a lot more peace of mind and prevents risk to oneself individually. It would also be great for anti-vaxxers and maskers to finally see a consequence to their actions, as everyday places like airports start upholding vaccine requirements. Requiring the vaccine is one big step toward public safety, and if a tiny portion of privacy needs to be upended for the greater good, so be it.
I agree that requiring the covid 19 vaccination is a great and important step in moving our way toward inside events and gathering that are necessary to keep the entertainment industry alive. I feel that this is a issue of common sense, If someone wants to participate in an inside event with out social distancing to see a performance or attend a gathering, they would need to show proof of vaccination as a way to prove that they wouldn't be putting themselves or others in danger of creating a super-spreader event. One thing that I have been thinking about recently is how log it's going to take people to create counterfeit vaccination cards and fake that they have the vaccine. I also want to see what institutions are going to require proof of vaccination, such as school, universities, work places, etc. Another thing that I found interesting in the article is that the attorney that was interviewed for the article said that from a legal standpoint, asking for vaccination for participating in certain events is legal.
I find it so frustrating that this is even a question. We require vaccines for children to go to school, so now that we have a covid vaccine, why wouldn’t we require it as it becomes commonly available. This idea that we can’t force people to get vaccinated because “oh no we must protect personal liberties at all costs, and my religion is which apparently more important than the safety of others, and we might become a police state” (he said sarcastically) is ridiculous. If people genuinely cared about protected personal information and civil liberties, they would be calling to break up Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, abolish personalized ads, and cease the selling of our tracked internet data. That’s what would turn us into a police state, not making sure we had a vaccine. I don’t care about HIPAA and I don’t care about your religion. The only situation where you shouldn’t have to get vaccinated is if you’re allergic to it. Now can we please just move on.
Reading the other comments, it is interesting to see where all the opinions came from in the height of the pandemic, where everything, including the vaccine, was uncertain. However, commenting now from 2021, I believe that theatres should require vaccinations unless there is a medical, religious, or other reason. It is the policy now adopted by most colleges and places of work, but it was interesting to see the debates before the vaccine was verified. It was also enlightening to read the potential discrimination cases in the article because it is something I have not thought of before. The reason being is because I feel that the “exemption to the vaccine requirement” has been too often treated as a “loophole” rather than a real serious reason to not receive the vaccine. However, I see how it can affect those who cannot absolutely receive the vaccine, and how that can be isolating and exclusionary. However, despite this, I think my opinion still stands, that all those who are able to should receive the vaccine and it should be required in theatres, in order to ensure the safety of not only the performers, but the backstage crew as well, who often don’t have good health insurance.
Post a Comment