An infectious diseases expert says concerts can be safe if they are restricted to fans who are vaccinated against COVID-19.
“That's a responsible way to do it,” Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security told Billboard. “Eventually it comes to a point where there's going to be some aspect of individual responsibility. We can't keep holding the vaccinated back for the unvaccinated.”
Adalja said there is no significant risk to fully vaccinated fans at concerts. “If they were to get a breakthrough case, it's going to be mild,” he explained. “We can't be in the business of trying to stop people from getting mild breakthrough infections. If that's the case, then there is no off-ramp for this pandemic because this virus is never going away. Our goal is to prevent serious illness.”
Live Nation Canada said this week that fans will soon have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend its concerts and live events.
A spokesperson for the promoter told The Canadian Press that the rules will be applied at “as many shows as possible.”
While no additional details were provided, the rep said ticket holders will be notified via email about “important information needed to plan their visit to our events.”
Quebec recently announced vaccine passports will be required for entry to non-essential businesses and events, including concerts. Toronto’s Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment said it will require proof of vaccination or negative test results for access to concerts and events at its venues.
Many music acts are demanding the same, including Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters and Jason Isbell.
(Last month, Eric Clapton – who is fully vaccinated – took the opposite approach. “I will not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present,” the 76-year-old rocker wrote in a message on Telegram. “Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show.”)
In the U.S., Live Nation announced last week it will require vaccinations or negative tests for access to its events beginning Oct. 4. The policy was tested at Lollapalooza in Chicago this summer and, according to the promoter, over 90 percent of fans were vaccinated. Health officials traced just 203 infections to the festival, which was attended by 385,000 fans.
“The fact that breakthrough infections are occurring is not surprising,” Adalja said. “Vaccines are not bug zappers. Vaccines are not force fields. The goal was not to prevent breakthrough infections, the goal was to prevent hospitalizations and deaths.”
Indoor concerts are riskier than outdoor ones, Adalja noted, but fans need to make risk calculations. “For some people that risk might be they don't go to indoor concerts. For other people, they do go to indoor concerts depending on their individual risk tolerance,” he said.
“The best way to make those venues safe is to have as many people vaccinated as possible.”