CDC lifts indoor mask/social distancing requirements for Vaccinated people.- Page 3

[joevitus]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 7:45pm

JayElle said: "RippedMan said: "Honestly, I'm not hearing enough about how masks have PROVEN to work. I haven't had so much as a sniffle in a year."

And big pharmahas griped lost sales on tamiflu and over counter cold meds. Virtually no reported flu or colds. Ergo, proof. Media not pushing that message enough.

"

So actually this isn't proof of anything except masks (may) help prevent the spread of colds and flu. Doesn't actually show anything about the spread of COVID. And  as so many people worked from home and had minimal contact without, we have zero idea, in and of itself, how effective masks are. My pharmacist just this morning was insisting that masks were useless against COVID. He's connected to a hospital, btw, and has been involved in tons of protocol meetings there. My guess is that he's over-reacting and they do help to some extent, but are not as effective as people imagine (thus the CDC actually arguing for two masks if one is a bit loose). At any rate, what you cite as proof isn't.

[joevitus]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 7:48pm

JayElle said: "charlie525600 said: "I'm surprised how many people on this thread seem to really love masks or have no desire to ditch them when the pandemic is undercontrol. Personally, I absolutely hate wearing a mask - ]I'm perfectly happy to go back to gettin ~1cold/year in exchange for not wearing a mask. So glad the CDC has announced these relaxed restrictions and really hope that Broadway doesn't require masks when it reopens."

No one loves them, but 585,200 people died. No one wants to join that.

You fail to realize that your cold spreads to others so the mask is to protectt you and others FROM you

Get the blue papermasks (surgical) sold in cvs, target, etc. They don't cling to face as much, but effective.Cloth masks are awful for ventilation."

I love the emphatic "no one" in "no one wants to join that." As if all people were of one mind on this topic. Yeah, that's what we've learned from all this, lol. BTW, the CDC does say masks protect you as well as others, though the primary goal was always the protection of others. Of course, the CDC is also lifting mask bans at the same time it is being acknowledged that COVID is actually airborn (which was denied forever) and six feet is not enough distance (though Fauci has already said six was too far and three is enough--so schools can reopen). So, make of all that what you will. 

[bear88]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 4:46am

All I really want to know, and it's annoying that we still have to wait on this, is if proof of vaccination or a negative test will be required for audience members.

Have I missed an announcement?

I know I'm supposed to be patient on this issue, both with local theaters and Broadway. I know it's supposed to all work out. Whatever. Give me the assurance I want.

[bway0]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 6:25am

bear88 said: "All I really want to know, and it's annoying that we still have to wait on this, is if proof of vaccination or a negative test will be required for audience members.

Have I missed an announcement?

I know I'm supposed to be patient on this issue, both with local theaters and Broadway. I know it's supposed to all work out. Whatever. Give me the assurance I want."

 

I posted this the other day in the SeatGeek thread:

Per the Jujamcyn, ticket holders will need to fill out a COVID-19 survey 24 hrs prior to performance in order for your ticket to be released. Additionally, tickets purchased through Feb 28, 2022 via SeatGeek or phone can be refunded or exchanged up to 2 hrs before performance time.

Here’s the website: 
https://www.jujamcyn.com/broadwayreturn/

 

Updated On: 5/25/21 at 06:25 AM

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 9:37am

bear88 said: "All I really want to know, and it's annoying that we still have to wait on this, is if proof of vaccination or a negative test will be required for audience members.

Have I missed an announcement?

I know I'm supposed to be patient on this issue, both with local theaters and Broadway. I know it's supposed to all work out. Whatever. Give me the assurance I want."

Nothing official yet but the situation can also change by September. There's numerous arenas and stadiums packing in people without requiring a negative test or vaccine proof all around the country right now. If things keep trending downward like they are I can see them eventually not being required here either. Over in NJ the governor just said the NFL teams can have 100% capacity and isn't requiring any vaccine proof, masks or social distancing.

Nobody really knows what's going to be the case come Broadway opening in terms of this stuff, it's a fluid situation so we'll have to wait and see. 

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 10:25am

bear88 said: "All I really want to know, and it's annoying that we still have to wait on this, is if proof of vaccination or a negative test will be required for audience members.

Have I missed an announcement?

I know I'm supposed to be patient on this issue, both with local theaters and Broadway. I know it's supposed to all work out. Whatever. Give me the assurance I want."

Given that Broadway isn't opening until September, and it's now only May, yes. You are supposed to be patient on this. Especially since, as vaccinations go up, it will continue to be an evolving issue, and any sort of "assurance" you get now may very well be expired science by September.

So yes, be patient.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 10:43am

bway0 said: "I posted this the other day in the SeatGeek thread:

Per the Jujamcyn, ticket holders will need to fill out a COVID-19 survey 24 hrs prior to performance in order for your ticket to be released. Additionally, tickets purchased through Feb 28, 2022 via SeatGeek or phonecan be refunded or exchanged up to 2 hrs before performance time."
 

TBH that's premature and fairly meaningless. Individual landlords, producers, and ticketers are not going to establish the rule, and I would say it is highly unlikely this will not be enough to satisfy the state, the unions, the audiences. 

This is a work in progress. Hopefully some clarity will arrive soon enough but obviously some need or want to know before they commit. (I'd also point out that many of us are evolving as we wrap our heads around the caution that has become second nature over the last year.) I also realize that for someone unwilling to sit next to someone without knowing their status, and who would be traveling to New York, offers of refunds of theatre tickets is not the extent of the issue.
 

 

[bear88]

Posted: 5/26/21 at 4:41am

In fairness to Broadway, looking at the theater website in the San Francisco Bay Area websites isn't much more clear about proof of vaccination or negative tests. One theater will require masks and social distancing. Another will follow state and local guidelines, whatever they are in the fall. The big touring houses are pretty silent (or I'm not looking in the right place).

Maybe people won't care, or things will continue to improve enough that I'll feel comfortable in a theater with a bunch of strangers. (For now, the virus is very much under control in the SF area and vaccination rates are quite high.)

But as HogansHero points out, it's a lot easier to make last minute plans to see something local. A trip to New York City from California is a different thing, given the costs of plane fare (likely to be higher than 2019) and a hotel. Ticket refunds are fine but not the biggest incentive when one of a primary reasons for the trip is to see shows.

 It's definitely possible that people's eagerness to travel and have fun with outweigh any skittishness about crowded theaters. And yes, I know the facts on the ground (and in the air) may be different by September. I'm sure shows will do well the first week, and then we'll have to wait and see. 

I hadn't planned to return to New York City on vacation until 2022, and everyone will have a much better idea of what worked and what didn't by then.

[unclevictor]

Posted: 5/26/21 at 9:10am

Burn your masks and return to the theatre, yawl!

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 5/26/21 at 9:25am

HogansHero said: "I also realize that for someone unwilling to sit next to someone without knowing their status, and who would be traveling to New York, offers of refunds of theatre tickets is not the extent of the issue."

​​​

bear88 said: " Ticket refunds are fine but not the biggest incentive when one of a primary reasons for the trip is to see shows."

 

The offers of refunds to me are more to give people who end up getting sick before the show an option to stay home instead of dragging themselves to the show cause the money was spent already. Obviously a lot of people will still go anyway but its definitely a nicer option for locals that some people will take advantage of. 

[JayElle]

Posted: 5/26/21 at 9:46am

bear88 said" "Ticket refunds are fine but not the biggest incentive when one of a primary reasons for the trip is to see shows."

Bear88, so what is primary reason? Vax? Don't count on it, especially as time passes. You mention someone who apparently doesn't buy tickets or attends shows. 

The point of ticket refunds is to enable patrons to make plans, get the seats you want for shows you want. If things change as time comes, you have flexibility to cancel, including hotels. Even airlines made it flexible., 

The first week back is an event in of itself.  If you're willing to wait for 2022, then you solved it for yourself.

 

Updated On: 5/26/21 at 09:46 AM

[Owen22]

Posted: 5/26/21 at 4:55pm

HogansHero said: "bway0 said: "I posted this the other day in the SeatGeek thread:

Per the Jujamcyn, ticket holders will need to fill out a COVID-19 survey 24 hrs prior to performance in order for your ticket to be released. Additionally, tickets purchased through Feb 28, 2022 via SeatGeek or phonecan be refunded or exchanged up to 2 hrs before performance time."


TBH that's premature and fairly meaningless. Individual landlords, producers, and ticketers are not going to establish the rule, and I would say it is highly unlikely this will not be enough to satisfy the state, the unions, the audiences.

This is a work in progress. Hopefully some clarity will arrive soon enough but obviously some need or want to know before they commit. (I'd also point out that many of us are evolving as we wrap our heads around the caution that has become second nature over the last year.) I also realize that for someone unwilling to sit next to someone without knowing their status, and who would be traveling to New York, offers of refunds of theatre tickets is not the extent of the issue."

I really don't think things are going to be very coordinated, rules-wise. Or not at all. I go to Planet Fitness and they now say, with two vaccinations, you can workout without a mask. But when I arrived I asked if they would like to see my proof-of-vaccination and she said, "nah, go right in".... 

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/26/21 at 5:03pm

Interesting about Planet Fitness. I really want to get back but I A)won’t go wearing a mask & B)Won’t go maskless yet.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/26/21 at 5:30pm

I think a gym and a Broadway theatre are apples and oranges. First of all, obviously, in a gym you (a) can get away from anyone you don't want to be near and (b) are spending only a limited time in one place or (in the base of cardio equipment at some distance from the next person. Secondly, the state has a higher concern for places of mass public assembly. And finally, to the best of my knowledge, no gym in New York City has 1 union to contend with, much less 27. I have been toying with going back to the gym but haven't yet. This may motivate me to go check things out. I have a feeling my gym is a little less lackadaisical. At least I hope so. 

[bear88]

Posted: 5/27/21 at 9:53pm

This is not about my travel plans because, honestly, who cares (except me and anyone coming with me).

What I do wonder is how this is going to play out. I'm sure I am not alone in avoiding large crowds of people indoors, much less the sort of share-the-air closeness with strangers that is part of going to the theater. Even if I'm convinced it is totally safe, that will be an adjustment for many folks. (See the comments above about venturing into gyms.)

Up to a point, I realize why everyone in the industry - and that seems to include theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the more cautious areas in the country - is keeping their options open while talking positively. We can't predict what the guidelines are going to be in a month, much less in September. Are we all going to need booster shots by then? Will COVID-19 continue its slow fade? Is proof of vaccination just going to be forgotten as a requirement for audiences because New York City needs the tourists it's lost for more than a year? Will the unions go along with that because the CDC says vaccinated people are supposed to be fine?

I don't know the answers here. 

My suspicion, and I could be wrong, is that Broadway and most theaters across the country will try to require as little as possible from audiences. It's a calculation. How many more people do you lose if you impose requirements versus those who decide to postpone theater for a while longer? The worst thing for Broadway, from my perspective, would be a lax approach followed by a bunch of Covid outbreaks and serious illnesses or deaths. But I could be wrong about that too. There's certainly a pent-up desire to do fun things, and theaters around the country can't just keep trying to pay the bills with remote shows.

Personally, I alternate between looking eagerly at upcoming shows, both locally and in New York City, and getting restless about the lack of a plan for a comfortable restart amidst a lot of uncertainty. Perhaps I'm an outlier among theatergoers, but I don't think I am the only person feeling this mixture of eagerness and frustration.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 5/27/21 at 10:07pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Interesting about Planet Fitness. I really want to get back but I A)won’t go wearing a mask & B)Won’t go maskless yet."

Same here. Interesting dilemma we have haha!