Concert promoters nationwide offer up venues as vaccination centers
The Fillmore, closed, on the afternoon of March 17, 2020, the first day of a shelter-in-place to combat coronavirus.
Large and small concert promoters nationwide have offered up their empty venues and staff to serve as COVID-19 vaccination centers. A letter sent to President Joe Biden was co-signed by leadership at Live Nation, AEG, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), among others.
“Since the pandemic shuttered our industry almost a year ago, our buildings and our co-workers have been paused, [unused] and struggling” said Dayna Frank, owner and CEO of First Avenue in Minneapolis and NIVA president. “These vaccines are our best chance at putting COVID-19 behind us, and our experiences organizing events and managing crowds now put us in the unique position of being the best prepared and most qualified industry to support the vaccination effort and get this country on the road to recovery.”
Biden’s administration has set a goal of administering 100 million vaccine doses during his first 100 days in office. The biggest obstacle to achieving that is the short supply of approved vaccines. Once those become more available, the focus will turn toward how best to vaccinate people.
“We share your vision of expedient, equitable and widespread vaccine distribution,” the letter reads. “It is our duty, as businesses rooted in communities across the nation, to do our part to set America on a positive path during this time of crisis. We stand ready to work with Federal and State governments to save lives and get America back to work and school.”
Entertainment venues are spread throughout the U.S., and as the letter pointed out are “specifically designed for queuing and crowd control.”
The letter is available to read publicly here.