KQED: For the past year, Bay Area theatergoers have subsisted on digital programming and crossed their fingers for a post-pandemic “new normal” to reinstate live indoor performances. As vaccinations increase across California, so does optimism about the safety of eventually returning to theater venues—but it’s possible patrons will have to prove they’ve been vaccinated in exchange for entry.
5 comments:
I personally think that needing to provide proof of covid vaccination would be a great way to reopen theaters with live audiences and have everyone be safe. I was just talking to my roommate the other day that I could fully see night clubs and bars opening back up but where you’d have to show your ID or pay an entrance fee at the door, you’d also show a vaccination card, and I don’t think it would be that different applied to the theatre. It was mentioned in the article that it’d be a lot to ask of ushers and that theaters couldn’t make a confident promise that every member of the audience had provided proof of vaccination. I don’t think it would be that difficult. If ushers are able to check and make sure each audience member has a ticket to the production, I don’t quite see why they can’t also make sure they also have proof of vaccination. Making it well-known beforehand that audience members must provide proof would be a simple way to let them know they must be prepared to show proof of vaccination along with their ticket to see the production. I, for one, think that requiring proof of vaccination for entry into public spaces is a great idea. I think it would be being indoors with crowds much safer, and it would also incentivize people to get their vaccines.
I think that requiring proof of vaccination for theater, as well as other events and maybe even places such as restaurants. I don't think this would be difficult at all to check proof of vaccination at venues, because other things are being checked as well. I think that Israel has had a good idea with requiring proof of vaccination for nearly everything as it motivates people to get vaccinated as well. I think that everyone who can get vaccinated should, and if they decide not to it's incredibly selfish. I think a vaccination passport should be implemented once the majority of people are vaccinated because venues and other things shouldn't be open before then anyway. I think that requiring vaccination is the only safe way it can be reopened, especially as variants are on the rise as well. Vaccines are a very controversial topic in the United States, but I think that theaters should not be afraid of that controversy when requiring vaccination verification for attendees to their performances.
This is a new challenge that may never really go away. Currently, figuring out how to require vaccinations isn’t difficult because individual companies, schools, and venues can just say that you can use their services if you don’t prove you’re vaccinated. I appreciate that this article points out that HIPAA only applies to healthcare providers, because that has been a point of misinformation for the entire pandemic. I’ve seen signs that say “you don’t have to wear a mask if you have a medical condition, and we legally cannot ask you because of HIPAA.” That of course is bogus for two reasons: HIPAA doesn’t apply to McDonalds and there are very few medical conditions that would prevent someone from wearing a mask. The “Vaccine Passport” as people have been calling it is the biggest point of contention so far because some people feel that it’s an invasion of privacy. Not to mention that the dinky cards issued by the CDC don’t really prove anything because you could easily forge one. Last thought: the vaccination rates are happening differently in different communities for a number of reasons, and once everyone has had access to the vaccine, that won’t be quite as much of an issue.
Well, it is already kind of a known fact that a vaccination card is going to be THE NEW ID. You’re going to be needing one to get into any event once rollout becomes more common. (Which also is concerning because there is going to be so much space for people to create false vaccination cards which is a whole other issue in of itself…) Despite this, it doesn’t surprise me that there’s articles coming out and saying that vaccination cards are going to be required for events. It feels obvious, like I said! I wonder how the process would be to check vaccination cards. Are they like IDs? Do they have some hidden emblem? Maybe they’re like money… I dont know… I definitely haven’t gotten vaccinated yet as you might be able to tell….
This is such an interesting new addition to what we will need in everyday life living with Covid-19 and it’s possible future variants. I wonder if we are at a place in which we can ever truly live without this sort of thing going forward. I just find it interesting as a passport to me tells me there may be room for other “stamps” in the near future. The ability to be approved for certain things and places. I know going to other countries in the past I have had to get certain vaccines for my own safety and I wonder if in the future medical passports will just simply be a full part of our experience. Live events and theatre will obviously be the one’s prioritizing this but as I said it wouldn’t surprise me if this moves more into the world of travel then theatre. We in the theatre are going to need to grow with this and develop the criteria that we are looking for exactly.I think there's no denying though that this will be some part of our "new normal"
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