Canadian country star Gord Bamford announced Tuesday he is making it easy for anti-vaxxers to attend his shows.
“I believe in freedom of speech and choice and every person on this Earth should have that right,” the singer said in a statement he read in a video shared on social media. “We’re doing our very best to keep everyone’s rights in place in a safe and manageable environment.”
“I’ve decided a great option to offer people who have chosen not to be vaccinated is this: When you purchase a ticket to gain entry to my show I will provide you with a free rapid test which I will personally pay for.”
Bamford has 15 concerts scheduled between Dec. 10 and April 23 – ironically, he has named it the Kick COVID in the A** Tour – throughout Alberta, where current regulations require proof of vaccination or a positive COVID-19 test to attend events. On Tuesday, Alberta reported 315 new COVID-19 cases.
According to tweets on Bamford's account, “a Pharmacist & her medical team” will be in each community one day ahead of shows to administer rapid tests to anti-vaxxers who have purchased tickets. “If your test is a POSITIVE result, your ticket purchase will be fully refunded,” it explains.
Bamford said he and his band members are fully vaccinated – “and that was a choice of each individual, not a company mandate.”
Experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine have determined the vaccines are “very good at preventing severe infection, hospitalization and death from COVID-19” and “as more people are vaccinated, families and communities will be able to gradually return to a more normal routine.”
In an interview with iHeartRadio.ca in August, Bamford said he has no trepidation about doing concerts. “Not at all,” he said, calling the virus “part of life” and insisting “we’ve got to get back to normal somehow.”
Bamford added: “They seem to be setting out rules, whether it’s right or wrong. Everybody has their own opinions. It is what it is. It’s up to everybody to do what they wish to do. It’s a free country out there, which I think people are having trouble with, with this whole thing, where it’s not really their choice at certain times. But it is.”
Last month, Kiss bassist Gene Simmons shared a message for anti-vaxxers. “Get over yourself,” he told Good Morning Britain. “We’re not concerned if you agree with it or not. We’re concerned about you making us sick. So get your goddamn COVID shot and protect other people from getting your stuff.
“You don’t have as many rights as you think,” he explained. “When you get up to a red light, you must stop. There’s no choice. It’s because it’s not about you — it’s about the other innocent people going by.”
Garth Brooks, Florida Georgia Line, Stevie Nicks and Neil Young are among the acts who have scrapped tour plans over concerns about the spread of COVID-19. “I worry about audiences coming together in these times,” Young said about his decision to pull out of September's Farm Aid. “My soul tells me it would be wrong to risk having anyone die because they wanted to hear music and be with friends.”
This week, Dan + Shay cancelled shows after "a member of our immediate touring party" tested positive for COVID-19.
Last month, Travis Tritt cancelled shows scheduled at venues with procedures in place to protect against the spread of COVID-19. “I’m putting my money where my mouth is and announcing that any venue or promoter mandating masks, requiring vaccinations, or pushing COVID testing protocols on my fans will not be tolerated,” Tritt said, in a statement posted on his website. “Any show I have booked that discriminates against concert-goers by requiring proof of vaccination, a COVID test, or a mask is being canceled immediately.”
Bamford's fellow Albertan Brett Kissel came under fire earlier this year when he tweeted: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. That’s what makes Canada free. Pro-Vax? Pro-Lockdown? Pro-Double Mask? Your body. Your life. Your choice. Anti-'this' vax? Anti-lockdown? Anti-mask? Your choice."
Singers Ed Sheeran, Jon Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams have recently had to cancel performances after testing positive for COVID-19 and since September, members of System of a Down, Korn, Zac Brown Band, Mudvayne, Doobie Brothers and Kiss have contracted the virus.