Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the leading expert in infectious diseases in the United States, said at a virtual conference to performing arts professionals on Saturday that he believes theaters and other venues may ‘sometime in the fall of 2021’ reopened, depending on the deployment of vaccinations, and suggested that the audience should wear masks for some time to come.
At the conference, held by the Association of Professional Performing Arts, dr. Fauci assured people in the industry that the end of their acute economic pain was in sight, while emphasizing that the timeline depends on the country reaching an effective herd. immunity, which he defined as vaccination from 70 percent to 85 percent of the population.
“If all goes well, it will take place some time in the fall of 2021,” said Dr. Fauci said, “so that by the time you get to the early to mid-autumn, you can also have people perform safely on stage as people in the audience.”
The industry conference, which typically draws thousands of attendees and features hundreds of live performances, has been moved completely online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting the seismic impact of the outbreak on the performing arts. According to the results of a survey released this week by Americans for the Arts, a national advocacy group, financial losses in the area are estimated at $ 14.8 billion. More than a third of the non-profit arts and culture organizations are staffed, and a tenth are “not confident” that they can survive the pandemic.
In an interview with Maurine Knighton, the program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, dr. Fauci said that if the distribution of vaccines is successful, the theaters with good ventilation and proper air filters may not have to place many restrictions on performances in the fall – other than asking their audience to wear masks, which he suggested ‘ for some time could remain a norm.
“I think you can then start again to get almost the full seat,” he said.
Dr. Fauci was asked about a frustration among professional artists in the performing arts that restaurants, bars, gyms and places of worship were allowed in some states, while theaters and other venues were allowed. In response to this, dr. Fauci urges them to do more research on the ventilation quality of their theaters and to investigate how improving airflow can affect transmission.
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Answers to your vaccine questions
Although the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary by state, medical workers and residents of long-term care institutions are likely to be first. If you want to understand how this decision is made, this article will help.
Life will only become normal when society as a whole gets enough protection against the coronavirus. Once countries approve a vaccine, they will be able to vaccinate at most a few percent of their citizens in the first few months. The unvaccinated majority will still be vulnerable to infection. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines offer strong protection against disease. But it is also possible for people to spread the virus without even knowing they are infected, because they experience only mild symptoms or not at all. Scientists do not yet know whether the vaccination also blocks the transmission of the coronavirus. For the time being, even vaccinated people will have to wear masks, crowds inside, and so on. Must avoid. Once enough people are vaccinated, it will be very difficult for the coronavirus to find vulnerable people who can become infected. Depending on how quickly we as a society reach the goal, life may begin by the fall of 2021 to approach something as normal.
Yes, but not forever. The two vaccines that may be approved this month clearly protect people against Covid-19. However, the clinical trials that have yielded these results have not been designed to determine whether vaccines can still spread the coronavirus without developing symptoms. It remains a possibility. We know that people who are naturally infected by the coronavirus can spread it while experiencing no cough or other symptoms. Researchers will study this question intensively as the vaccines begin. Meanwhile, even vaccinated people will have to think of themselves as possible distributors.
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is delivered like a shot in the arm, like other typical vaccines. The injection will not be different from what you received before. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines, and none of them have reported serious health problems. But some of them felt transient discomfort, including pains and flu-like symptoms that usually last a day. It is possible that people after the second shot may be planning to take a day off from work or school. Although these experiences are not pleasant, it is a good sign: it is the result of your own immune system encountering the vaccine and getting a powerful response that will provide long-lasting immunity.
No. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to replenish the immune system. That molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell so that the molecule can slide. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus, which can stimulate the immune system. Each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules at any one time that they produce to make their own proteins. Once those proteins are made, our cells cut the mRNA with special enzymes. The mRNA molecules that make up our cells can only survive for a few minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is designed to resist the cells’ enzymes a little longer, allowing the cells to make extra viral proteins and trigger a stronger immune response. But the mRNA can only take a few days at most before being destroyed.
He referred to a German study of an indoor concert, staged by scientists in August, which suggested that such events had a low to very low impact on the spread of the virus, as long as organizers provided adequate ventilation, strictly hygiene protocols and limited capacity ensured. .
And he suggested that the field needs more such studies. “What the performing arts need to do is to do a little bit more of what the Germans are doing,” he said.
Dr. Fauci also said that local rules at some U.S. airlines could mimic and that audience members must deliver negative test results to gain access.
The distribution of vaccines in the United States is already behind schedule, and government officials and local public health officials are struggling to administer the vaccine to hospital workers and older Americans. Most people remain unsure when they might be protected.
Recognizing the exhaustion of the pandemic across the country, and the eagerness of artists and art administrators to get back to work, Dr Fauci called on people to be vigilant about social measures so that the industry can reopen.
“We’re in the theaters again – artists will perform, and the public will enjoy it,” he said. “It will happen.”