Delta Variant and Broadway — Page 8

The New York Times "The Daily" podcast had a great episode about vaccinations and breakthrough cases. The vaccine was never intended to eradicate the virus, it was to GREATLY decrease the risk of serious illness and death.

Our main source of protections from serious illness and/or death is vaccination. I am so encouraged that NYC announced this morning that vaccines will be required for city employees. Although, I know that theatre workers are not considered municipal workers, I hope that this is a step towards a vaccine requirement in more public settings.

Updated On: 7/26/21 at 10:38 AM

That Daily episode was very interesting. I think that the there is a big possibility of there being mask mandates at theaters now when they re-open in the fall, but I am sure people would much rather mask up for a few months than have to delay any further.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is true. It is vaccine or take a weekly COVID test.

Correct.

SouthernCakes said: "Stuff evolved so quickly I feel like it’s hard to plan. Who would have thought we’d have all the crazy Republicans telling everyone to get vaccinated."

They realized that every unvaccinated person is eventually going to get COVID and did the math on how elections will turn out if they lose 1-2% of their most dedicated voters.

Things will continue to evolve for theatre reopenings. In Covid-world time, it's still a long time before the significant reopenings start. And as of now, no one has suggested people will be let into theatres without vax. I think this will become more rather than less the clearly the case as we approach Labor Day. I think we are headed towards the Macron system, and I think the city's decision may seem quaint before long. We shall see.

ETA: Patience.

Updated On: 7/26/21 at 02:00 PM

Fosse76 said: "jlindsey865 said: "I am so encouraged that NYC announced this morning that vaccines will be required for city employees. Although, I know that theatre workers are not considered municipal workers, I hope that this is a step towards a vaccine requirement in more public settings."

On Friday, the Shuberts notified its employees that ANY person employed inside its theaters (whether theateremployees, bar staff, merchandise, production/actors, etc.) MUST be fully vaccinated before they can enter any theater building (office staff and subsidiary organizations will also be required to be vaccinated). The Nederlanders are also requiring theater staff to be fully vaccinated (though I don't know if it will apply to merchandise and/or production/actors, also)."

Not all employees have been notified yet. Spoke to a friend over at Shubert after I read your post.

Updated On: 7/26/21 at 07:38 PM

uncageg said: "Not all employees have been notified yet. Spoke to a friend over at Shubert after I read your post."

Well, I don't know what to tell your friend...but they definitely sent it out via email. I'm not sure if they will also notify by letter.

I am hoping that the new health scare does not worsen much, much more and does not further delay the return of Broadway! It is even worse for overseas Broadway tourists -- there are more uncertainties involved (entry to the USA&NewYork requirements such as vaccination&tests protocols/potential for quarantine requirements re-issue/ price movements for airlines & hotels, etc). But we try to be optimistic while being aware of how fluid the situation could be. Thus, we are planning our trips as further away into the future as possible and still catch Broadway and New York City tour offerings.

Before the pandemic in late 2019, Hugh Jackman made a musical ode to NYC and Broadway as part of his music tour. Not sure if that was in a sense ominous... but I try to revisit clips from the show and think that there is so much to look forward to ( one of the few things one could think/dream about while waiting for the weary and interminable pandemic time to pass). Hope I do not have to re-date my MusicMan tickets bought in late 2019 and airline/hotel reservations all over again. I have also pinpointed other shows to see but have not bought tickets yet, preferring to wait until things become a bit more positive. Here's the clip from Hugh's show - which inspires the trip to a city where I once worked and where I discovered Broadway!

Updated On: 7/27/21 at 07:22 PM

I doubt the international travel restrictions will lift by September for America, so Broadway will heavily rely on domestic tourists pretty exclusively for the Fall. The "peak" of this goddamn Delta variant will be in September/October according to a few doctors but hopefully Broadway will understand that hiring 10 understudies is cheaper than canceling shows.

That's good to hear, the article I read was predicting later, which I mentioned above.

The current COVID-19 surge in the U.S. — fueled by the highly contagious delta variant — will steadily accelerate through the summer and fall, peaking in mid-October, with daily deaths more than triple what they are now.

That's according to new projections released Wednesday from the COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub, a consortium of researchers working in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help the agency track the course of the pandemic.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/07/22/1019475669/delta-variant-will-drive-a-steep-rise-in-covid-deaths-model-shows

Updated On: 7/27/21 at 08:36 PM