Delta & Broadway?
Delta & Broadway?
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/5/16
Delta & Broadway?#1
Posted: 6/14/21 at 9:31am
I know nobody wants to think about this. But after the last 15 months, I can't be the only one who has fallen into the "waiting for the other shoe to drop" abyss.
Is anyone else worried that the Delta variant (B.1.617) could potentially put Broadway's fall reopening plans in jeopardy? I've been trying (successfully) to suppress that worry for the past few weeks. But with Delta's upcoming dominance in the US now seeming like an inevitability, I can't help but be a little panicked.
Please don't crucify me for this; it's been a year.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
Delta & Broadway?#2
Posted: 6/14/21 at 9:40am
Honestly - I can't worry about something I have absolutely no control over. It's either going to happen....or it's not. Either masks/vaccines will be enough - or it won't. Frankly, I'd be more likely to be concerned over my health and safety first.
Delta & Broadway?#3
Posted: 6/14/21 at 9:49am
The vaccines are highly effective. Just get vaccinated if you haven’t been, and especially encourage the hesitant to get vaccinate.
There will never be a “No Covid” world, unfortunately. But not getting very ill and/or dying? That’s what the vaccines prevent. That’s what I’m happy about, and why I won’t give into the fear porn right now. I made sure I was protected, and encourage everyone to do the same if they haven’t yet.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/5/16
Delta & Broadway?#4
Posted: 6/14/21 at 9:52am
Just to clarify, I am absolutely, 100% fully vaccinated (four shots, if you include the placebo shots I got in the Moderna trial). I just don't want the unvaccinated idiots to throw off what we've all been waiting for for 15 months.
Delta & Broadway?#5
Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:00am
Look, I’m not an epidemiologist or a scientist, and am only following what they’ve been sharing with the public as of late, but if THEY aren’t vaccinated, and WE are, Rox, THEY have the problem of catching this severe variant and getting very ill and/or dying. We really don’t. I hate to make it sound divisive, but I really feel it’s come down to it.
Glad you’re vaxxed! Enjoy your summer!
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/5/16
Delta & Broadway?#6
Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:05am
jv92 said: "Look, I’m not an epidemiologist ora scientist, and am only following what they’ve been sharing with the public as of late, but if THEY aren’t vaccinated, and WE are, Rox, THEY have the problem of catching this severe variant and getting very ill and/or dying. We really don’t. I hate to make it sound divisive, but I really feel it’s come down to it.
Glad you’re vaxxed! Enjoy your summer!"
Oh, I completely agree with you. I've been saying for the past month and a half that the only good reason to not be vaccinated right now is if you're under 12. I just hope it doesn't turn into the unvaccinated ruining everything for the vaccinated. I don't want anti-vaxxers to stop me from seeing Six in September. (a sentence I never would've even thought about, pre-covid) xD
Delta & Broadway?#7
Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:11am
I agree with the above. The vaccines are effective against Delta, and as I see it the only risk for the vaccinated is if they have someone (child, allergic, etc.) in their life who is not able to get vaccinated. The vaccine rates in the theatre-going areas of NYC are very high, to the point of amazement. Requiring vaccinations should result in broad confidence of safety. What worries me is not personal safety but that the OP's general fears are going to keep a lot of vaccinated people away. That would be disastrous especially because way too many shows are set to open this fall. Color my fingers crossed.
Delta & Broadway?#8
Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:45am
I think you'll be fine for September. The bigger question mark is flu season (late November to March) which is when covid cases tend to increase as well. Even last year the covid cases in NYC area was very low from June to mid-November and increased again starting late November.
I haven't really heard much about breakthrough cases (fully vaxxed folks still getting covid) but they are out there albeit a tiny percentage.
Delta & Broadway?#9
Posted: 6/14/21 at 10:51am
I will 100% honest with you, I thought this was a thread about Delta Burke coming back to Broadway...guess my morning Designing Women episode is on my brain.
Delta & Broadway?#10
Posted: 6/14/21 at 11:19am
I still think B'way will reopen in September as is scheduled, however, the fun will most likely end (for now) by mid- November due to the high prevalence of this variant. Even those who are fully vaccinated will have to get boosters around this time. A second shutdown may take us to at least April of next year.
Because of this, we will probably have another Mickey Mouse B'way season like 2019-20. What was once shaping up to be an exciting 2022 Tonys will turn out to be another joke.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
Delta & Broadway?#11
Posted: 6/14/21 at 11:30am
We will never go back to where things were 14 months ago. Not ever. Our economy would implode and Americans would just start murdering people if we were to go into lock down again. So, the variant won't close businesses again, schools again, or close theater. Absolutely not.
Vaccinations save lives and if this variant scares people inside getting it, that is fine with me.
Delta & Broadway?#12
Posted: 6/14/21 at 11:30amThe 16 Broadway unions that have safety protocol demands are going to be what could stymie Broadway's reopening, not the variants!
Delta & Broadway?#13
Posted: 6/14/21 at 11:40am
The current evidence is that a booster is not likely to be needed for around a year, if then. This is a good time to remember that the goal is not technical eradication of virus infections, but effective diminishment. In areas like NYC where there is effectively herd immunity, bringing in infected idiots is of epidemiologic concern in the sense that they need to be kept out of potential super spreader spaces but not really to us non-idiots. Yes there will be some breakout but as long as it is asymptomatic, it is of no more concern than any other non-threatening illness. And note that the theatre district main zip code (10036) is now 100% vaccinated. Wow.
Delta & Broadway?#14
Posted: 6/14/21 at 2:15pm
Jordan Levinson said: "I still think B'way will reopen in September as is scheduled, however,the fun will most likely end (for now) by mid- November due to the high prevalence of this variant. Even those who are fully vaccinated will have to get boosters around this time. A second shutdown may take us to at least April of next year.
Because of this, we will probably have another Mickey Mouse B'wayseason like 2019-20. What was once shaping up to be an exciting 2022 Tonys will turn out to be another joke.
Jordan I think you're letting your own personal fears get the best of you -- you've already said in multiple threads that you won't come out of the bubble for at least a year or two -- even though your parents are ready and willing to come out and "rejoin the human race"!
Broadway Star Joined: 12/29/06
Delta & Broadway?#15
Posted: 6/14/21 at 2:25pm
I am heartened by the fact that Japan and Korea have largely been able to keep their theater scenes going throughout the pandemic, IMO because they're more rule-abiding as a whole. Given the issues with cell phones I'm not Polyanna about Americans' adherence to mask wearing, but at least we have ~50% of the population vaccinated.
Personally, I'm more comfortable returning to theater than I am going to an indoor gym or eating inside at a restaurant, simply because theater viewing can be done masked. (Okay, technically you can wear a mask at the gym, but people breathe very heavily).
Delta & Broadway?#16
Posted: 6/14/21 at 2:38pm
JSquared2 said: "Jordan Levinson said: "I still think B'way will reopen in September as is scheduled, however,the fun will most likely end (for now) by mid- November due to the high prevalence of this variant. Even those who are fully vaccinated will have to get boosters around this time. A second shutdown may take us to at least April of next year.
Because of this, we will probably have another Mickey Mouse B'wayseason like 2019-20. What was once shaping up to be an exciting 2022 Tonys will turn out to be another joke.
Jordan I think you're letting your own personal fears get the best of you -- you've already said in multiple threads that you won't come out of the bubble for at least a year or two -- even though your parents are ready and willing to come out and "rejoin the human race"!
It's taken a whole lot of convincing - even with cases on the decline in NY right now - but I have taken some steps out in society throughout these last couple of months, though I've done everything with a mask on thus far.
I have also been to a couple of crowded indoor events, which are much more comfortable for me 1) when cases are falling, 2) when proof of vaccination is a must, and 3) when I wear a mask around others. September or later could be a different story. We will see when the time comes.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/5/16
Delta & Broadway?#17
Posted: 6/14/21 at 5:16pm
Jordan Levinson said: "I still think B'way will reopen in September as is scheduled, however,the fun will most likely end (for now) by mid- November due to the high prevalence of this variant. Even those who are fully vaccinated will have to get boosters around this time. A second shutdown may take us to at least April of next year.
Because of this, we will probably have another Mickey Mouse B'wayseason like 2019-20. What was once shaping up to be an exciting 2022 Tonys will turn out to be another joke."
No offense, but considering that that could be a death blow for Broadway, I sincerely hope you are wrong.
Delta & Broadway?#18
Posted: 7/9/21 at 5:28am
Things change fast and the news is contradictory at times. The Olympics will be held without spectators because of Delta and a really bad vaccine rollout in Japan. That study in Israel that had the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness at stopping the Delta variant in the 60s wasn’t what I wanted to see. And cases are up. Pfizer may seek FDA approval for a third shot.
But that same Israeli study still had the vaccine above 90 percent effectiveness at keeping fully vaccinated people out of the hospital. (I do want to know more about Long Covid, though.) But the current flurry seems aimed almost exclusively at the unvaccinated.
As for how this affects me, I am torn. Part of me is itching to see a show or a performance, and they’re starting. The cautious part of me wants to see more information. And I do wish the theaters would just require proof of vaccination, as Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco is doing, instead of avoiding the question as most theaters in the SF area are doing.
As for Broadway, that’s a 2022 question for me.
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