Dr. Fauci Predicts That Concerts Can Return This Fall If All Goes Well With the COVID-19 Vaccine
On January 9th, Dr. Fauci -the infectious disease expert tracking the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States- predicted that if “everything goes right” regarding the distribution of COVID vaccines, then concert venues and theaters can reopen as early as Fall 2021. He stated,”by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience”. These claims were made at a conference held by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals.
The live music industry has been devastated by the pandemic since it came to the United States in March of 2020, and both fans and artists are anxious to finally put their old concert tickets and tour plans to use. With many venues shutting their doors for almost a year, quite a few locations across the country have fallen victim to bankruptcy due to the lack of income and rising expenses, and were therefore forced to close permanently.
Luckily, many artists and music lovers have advocated for the Save Our Stages Act, which has passed into law for the government’s COVID-19 Relief Bill. However, this act, while providing about $10 billion dollars of relief to performance venues across the nation, is not enough to stabilize the situation. Our favorite live music spots continue to be at risk until we can overcome the pandemic and go back to hosting live concerts.
While we are all excited to return to the live music experience we all love and miss, Fauci did note that this comeback to live music is highly dependent on the effectiveness of vaccine rollout, and how long it will take to get 75% to 80% of the population vaccinated. In addition, these venues must continue taking precautions, including ensuring ample ventilation, implementing hygiene protocols, and limiting capacity.
While everything is still up in the air at this point, the scientific expert’s statement “we’ll be back in the theaters — performers will be performing, audiences will be enjoying it...It will happen.” can give us hope for the future. Who is the first artist you will be seeing when live concerts return?
