Met to audience: No jab, no opera

Met to audience: No jab, no opera

News

norman lebrecht

July 16, 2021

The Metropolitan Opera is letting it be known that it will not admit audience members without proof of Covid vaccination.

That applies to all admisssions, even older ones who left their paper certificate at home.

There is still no confirmation from the orchestra negotiations that the Met will open on schedule at the end of September.

 

Comments

  • Bing says:

    This would be illegal in Florida.

    • Tamino says:

      Yes, and dying of infectuous diseases is legal (not only) in Florida. Legally it‘s a clear matter.

      • Sarastro says:

        It will be clearer when the courts point out the obvious: that government may not force drugs into any American’s body or restrict their life for keeping jurisdiction over their body, Tamino.

        • ER says:

          But the MET is not the government. And while it can’t force vaccination it can control who enters its auditorium.

        • Tom Phillips says:

          But of course they should be free to harm others as their “individual freedom” is all that matters rather than the well-being of society which according to Margaret Thatcher, Ayn Rand etc. and legions of their worshippers and followers does not even exist i.e. “there is no such thing as society”.

        • Jim says:

          The government hasn’t forced anyone to get a shot. Stop making up lies.

      • Kyle says:

        You’re right, it is legally clear that The Met may state this policy. And it probably does have the effect of making many vaccinated people feel safer and more willing to attend. Therefore it’s economically warranted.

        From my perspective, however, this policy should not be welcomed by vaccinated people. It not only creates a burden of proof, but it also has little health benefit. Yes, a very small percentage of vaccinated people get serious symptoms and an even tinier percentage die. If you’re worried about that being you, then you should stay home and probably never attend another public event. That is not meant to be the least bit flippant – the small possibility of vaccinated people getting seriously sick or dying isn’t going away since there is absolutely no expectation that everyone is going to get vaccinated. And in the U.S., pretty much anyone who wants the vaccine has had the opportunity to get it.

        The real health benefits of the policy are for unvaccinated people. Why would we force a burden of proof on vaccinated people in order to protect unvaccinated people?

        Well, The Met would do it because they believe limiting the potential pool of attendees will increase the number of actual attendees. It’s not good health policy, it’s disrespectful to vaccinated people (though many in that cohort will believe the exact opposite), but it’s probably good economics.

        • Indeed says:

          @Kyle, that is absolutely dopey – though good job of using so many words and still being dopey.

          I’m vaccinated, I’m a Met subscriber, I’m happy with the policy, and the idea that I am being disrespected when I am asked for proof of vaccination (as I also will be at Bard SummerScape in a couple of weeks) is ridiculous.

          Given that vaccinations aren’t 100% effective, this is also about lowering the risk to everyone by keeping the stupid people out of the house.

          • Kyle says:

            I’ll ignore the insults aimed at me. I predicted your response, so it’s fine.

            Do you think you’ll want to be asked for your vaccination status in 2031 in order to attend a concert? If not, how about in 2026? If not, how about in 2022? If you don’t want to be asked at some point in the future, please ask yourself, what is going to change between now and that point in the future that makes it so you’re happy to be asked now.

          • Saxon says:

            And another issue. Are those who want to restrict entry to people who prove they are vaccinated going to get themselves re-jabbed every three months. (Otherwise you will be asking someone in 2031 to prove they had the vaccine in 2020). Regular re-jabs every three months is what is required to maintain “full immunity”. And what about those who had Covid recently: their immunity status will be just as good (actually better) than those recently jabbed.

            Still, asking for vaccine status is an effective way of getting rid of the young, the poor, and ethnic minorities.

            The idea that if we all got jabbed that the virus will miraculously disappear is absurd. Practically we will have to learn to live with the virus, and accept that many people will get it (overwhelmingly without getting serously ill).

          • Jim says:

            Why would I mind being asked about my vaccination status in the future if Covid is still a threat? You are clutching at straws. You apparently have not been vaccinated, ignoring your civic and moral duty to help eradicate this scourge, but assisting in permitting the virus to mutate, which endangers others. Your shirking of responsibility robs you of any credibility.

        • Jim says:

          If the Met ids instituting the policy to increase attendance, more power to them. They are hurting financially. And I doubt that any Met attendees Will mind. They will be safer, maybe not a lot, but still safer. And your assertion about disrespect is way off base. Quite the opposite, in fact.

      • Indeed says:

        Florida Man doesn’t think a private enterprise should be able to set its own terms of service.

        If you don’t want to get vaccinated, stay home while the rest of us enjoy opera at the Met.

    • Tom Phillips says:

      As seems to be scientific thought and rational non-violent people in general.

    • Emil says:

      Good thing the MET is not in Florida.

      • E Rand says:

        It they were, they’d have never shut down. They’d all be employed.

        • True North says:

          Your willfully ignorant attitude is proving again that there are really two pandemics: COVID, and stupidity. We will probably survive the former, despite you and your ilk, but the latter will eventually get us for sure.

          • E Rand says:

            All I see are strawman or ad hominem responses to my positions. The garbage media have made you to think there is some possible safe world out there, but there will not be, and there never was. The fact remains that if the MET were located in Florida, they’d still be performing, the musicians would still be paid, and the audiences wouldn’t be panicked into demanding that all those who wish to attend take an experimental vaccine.

            I live in Texas. We have had concerts, in-person, since last summer. There are indeed two worlds, and I thank god I live in mine.

          • True North says:

            I wish I could challenge all you freedom-trolls to go work in a Covid ward in a really heavily-hit area for a few days. Then your tune would change, I think. Besides the rampant death and suffering, the hardest part might actually be that you’d have to think of someone besides yourself for once.

    • ANtonia says:

      Florida right now has a full TWENTY PERCENT of active, confirmed Covid cases in the nation! Disgusting! People there are unwilling to stop a communicable, sometimes deadly disease that leaves people with even mild cases suffering permanently with “long Covid”.

      Sanctity of life, my FOOT!!

      • E Rand says:

        “Sanctity of life” is a large, and nuanced subject. It is usually used with regard to the unborn, who have no means of protecting themselves. We adults here in Florida also value LIVING the life God granted us, and enjoy the freedom to decide what (experimental and unapproved) medicines we shall take, and when. If that scares you, then I beg you to never set foot in the scary states of Texas or Florida, where people live a freedom you can no longer imagine.

        • V Lind says:

          Freedom? Garbage. It’s licence. Coupled with ego.

          People live in Florida because it has no state income tax.

          • E Rand says:

            “Freedom – garbage”?

            Where do you live?

          • True North says:

            Your obsession with freedom is interesting. I live in a place you would probably consider unacceptably restrictive, yet I cannot recall once feeling like my essential freedoms were being curtailed by anyone. You, on the other hand, live in Texas where your personal freedom is apparently unrivalled, yet you talk about freedom as though yours was constantly under threat. Why is that? I’m genuinely curious.

          • Hayne says:

            Less taxes=less government power=more liberty. Yes, it is that simple:)
            I wish I could live there.

        • Jim says:

          So you value going to a movie or restaurant or the right to refuse to take a vaccine, proven to save lives, over the saving of human lives. Very telling.

      • Tom Phillips says:

        They have lots of people there just like the aptly named “Rand” in these comments here. anti-Science Trump-worshipping religious fundamentalists who get all of their “information” from Fox “News” (or OAN etc.)

      • Saxon says:

        Antonia writes: “disease that leaves people with even mild cases suffering permanently with “long Covid”.”

        What hysterical twaddle. Long covid is defined as someone who has covid “for more than a week”. Those people overwhlmingly recover completely within two-or-three weeks. In fact most people who get Covid have few or no symptoms. A small minority become very ill (for someone in good health who is under 50, that risk is about 1-in-10,000 or lower).

        The vaccine will mean that even fewer become seriously ill when catching Covid: if you are medium-or-high risk, and you haven’t already had Covid, then you really should get the vaccine. But it really isn’t a big deal if some people don’t take the vaccine, as long as about 70 percent of people do. Once about 70 percent of people have the vaccine, the rest taking it will have almost no effect how the virus spreads.

        Really, too many people have frightened themselves stupid over the risks.

  • Paul Sekhri says:

    Bravo!!!!

  • sam says:

    I don’t see how it can possibly work without a national system of digitized certification, as in France.

    Otherwise, how can the usher possibly recognize the hundreds of thousands of vaccination forms from all over the world, not to mention pure fraud, anyone can create an official looking form.

    I say, do what the Chinese do at international airports, mandatory anal swabs of every patron in the lobby.

    To make it more humane, they could have *random* anal swabs, during intermission, while patrons are enjoying a glass of champagne (sorry, same price, whether one is selected or not).

    • José Bergher says:

      Free of charge for all performances of Beethoven’s “Fiddleanus,” Weber’s “Der Fried Shits,” and Purcell’s “Dildo and Anus.”

    • Will Wilkin says:

      The French approach would be more appropriate to our culture, so why do you summarily dismiss it? It seems a national vaccine registry with official CDC verification would be an excellent solution and easy enough to achieve.

      • E Rand says:

        Because if you are vaccinated, then my status is none of your business (or concern).

        • Bill says:

          Not true — your status still affects those around me who cannot be vaccinated (children under 12, those with allergies to various vaccine components), andthose who cannot muster an adequate response to vaccination (the immunocompromised). Let’s also not forget that no vaccine provides 100% effectiveness. Those who refuse vaccination and get infected also provide a reservoir of infection and mutation, which may lead to lessened efficacy of the vaccines.

          But yes, avoiding states like Florida and Texas seems like a good call, if it reduces the chances of coming face to face with the likes of you.

          • V Lind says:

            I’ve been to both, and despite the many virtues each no doubt possesses, I have no desire to set foot in either ever again.

          • E Rand says:

            Wonderful! Did this gem of a thought occur to you as you were stepping over homeless drug addicts on your feces-ridden sidewalk before you climb up to your 800sq mansion and hand over 50% of your income to an incompetent local and state gov on whom you wait patiently to let you know when its ok to live again?

          • Jim says:

            You know nothing about New York. Educate yourself. And not with WABC.

          • E Rand says:

            I completely agree with you. You can’t handle either state and its probably better if you never come.

          • E Rand says:

            I completely agree with you – you cannot handle either state and it is probably much better that you never come here.

          • Hayne says:

            Vaccine: A product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting that person from that disease. If you are immune to a disease, you can be exposed to it without becoming infected. CDC
            It never was a vaccine. As we will see, vaccinated people will be more vulnerable down the road…oops, did I say that?

        • True North says:

          Interesting. I take your comment to mean that you have actually been vaccinated, but your pride will not allow you to admit that it is actually the most prudent choice to make for yourself and those around you.

        • Jim says:

          You have made your status clear. Your status shows that you are a selfish person who cares little about others. Good luck.

  • Denise Brain says:

    Brave New World, take 2 🙁

    • José Bergher says:

      And “1984.”

      • Sigh says:

        Whenever folks bandy about these titles so willy-nilly, I am always forced to wonder if indeed they have read a single word. They’re a private institution living the Randian capitalist dream of doing whatever the hell they want.

        • Ich bin Ereignis E says:

          Right on. Essentially, adult children who were never able to overcome the pleasure principle stage, who still can’t handle delayed gratification, and ultimately, a reasoned relationship to reality.
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wAlQf4WdiE

        • Denise Brain says:

          Yes, I have read the book, at least 3 times, Mr. Sarcasm.

        • Denise Brain says:

          Yes, I have read BNW, at least three times in the past, Mr. Sarcasm.

        • Tom Phillips says:

          These right-wing “liberterian” types believe in free choice only for those who think – and act – exactly like themselves.

          • E Rand says:

            These left-wing, communist types only think of the collective. I’ll take dangerous liberty, any day, of a false, safe tyranny.

          • True North says:

            If left-wingers are all “communists,” right-wingers must therefore all be fascists – right?

          • E Rand says:

            Isn’t that already what the Left says since 2016?

          • True North says:

            Yes. And do you like it? Is it accurate?

          • Hayne says:

            This is getting old. Communists and fascists are both the same: socialists. Learn some economics.

          • Justin says:

            You and your klan still believe Hillary won in 2016 despite the facts then?

            Well, Trump won 2021…again!

          • E Rand says:

            “My body, my choice”, amiright! (Btw-the largest cohort of unvaccinated “hicks”, as you put it, are blacks. Racist.).

          • Indeed says:

            Logical fallacy, right there.

            Though you know if Shakespeare was alive today, he’d have said, “the first thing we do, let’s kill all the libertarians.”

          • E Rand says:

            Shakespeare would have been far more coherent.

        • Tom Phillips says:

          One wonders if they are even capable of reading anything at all. Other than having each of their various bibles broadcast to them again and again (whether in churches, Fox “News” etc. etc.). and just regurgitating the same talking points again and again and again.

          • Kevin Henning says:

            @Tom Phillips
            That’s all that the Democrats do as NOTHING CHANGES FOR THE BETTER in their world! Always struggling, protesting and acting offended as if truly well-educated people would resort to behaving like the lowest common denominator of man.

            The Left has historically ruined everything they fixate on either from close range or within thus no thinking individual is fooled by their perpetual BS.

            Democrat states and cities are the ones with high crime, poverty and tax/fee obsessed which is why you people can’t afford to sustain yourselves. In mainstream news, the exodus has been well documented. Blue states California, New York, Illinois always hemorrhage taxpayers who go to better states particularly for jobs that pay well in alignment with good housing and schools.

            To be honest, just look at the Met in NYC. Their staff, players, chorus and singers were immediately left with NOTHING but health care which I grant you is nice. However they were left with NO INCOME in an obscenely expense environment centralizing on rent alone. Most people abandoned NYC due to lack of income. Many that have remained have simply been taking advantage of both Trump and Cuomo’s eviction moratoriums so they simply haven’t paid rent. Gelb and the board never helped anyone after his emergency gala that made how much again?

            The fallout begins next month if no extensions are invoked to simply buy time with no ability to pay months of back rent.

            Speaking of solely the Met, their cast and crew is now financially and geographically segregated not counting those who’ve committed suicide of course. Peter and the board are responsible for that.

            It’s hard to understand why someone like yourself Tom would support leftists who continue to hurt their own people with no remorse or consequence.

      • Emil says:

        And Animal Farm, Utopia, Plato’s Republic, and Karl Popper’s The Open Society, if we’re just throwing out random book names that kinda apply if you read the back cover and the first paragraph of their Wikipedia entry.

  • Hayne says:

    A great way to whittle down your audience even more.
    What a bunch of fearful, ignorant hicks.

    • Bill says:

      Yes, the fearful, ignorant hicks who refuse vaccination are exactly the ones they wish to exclude.

      • PaulD says:

        You must have missed it when Dr. Biden went to Harlem to encourage vaccinations. Seems that the hicks there are not getting their shots.

      • Tom Phillips says:

        As they should. The sane and civilized members of the opera-going public are better off without them.

      • Lyle Kew says:

        Discrimination is a good thing!!!

        Er…Let the lawsuits commence.

        Oh my! Does this include performers, players, ushers, barkeeps, cooks, servers, valets, etc. pray tell?

        • Indeed says:

          @Lyle Kew – if you made the slightest effort you would know that the Met already told employees their policy for vaccinations. It isn’t a mystery.

          • Sanjay P. says:

            It is to Norman.
            He would have posted it by now.

            Besides, being vaccinated clearly does not make anyone any more superior than anyone else.

            Ask the Texas Dems!
            Three just tested positive in Washington after running away from their responsibilities to their LEGAL citizens.

            Can you believe they flew without social distancing or wearing masks in enclosed environments? Typical.

            Hope the lot of them gets sick along with their conspiracy theorist Libs and that dirty Indian girl who shames her people!

            https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1274278

    • Tiredofitall says:

      For all who are not regular Met ticket purchasers (probably the majority on this site), several weeks ago the Met surveyed a number of audience members as to their comfort level with respect to attending in-house performances.

      Their decision was not made in a vacuum.

    • Tom Phillips says:

      An excellent description of anti-Vaxxers. Certainly not those who believe in science.

      • Bill says:

        Kamala is over at Walter Reed right now after congratulating her SICK vaxxed comrades who abandoned their duties to the state of Texas they swore to uphold. Maybe less will return.

        Hopefully she can join at least 3 of them in their pithy pestilence.

        You’re entitled to your own opinions, not your own SCIENCE!

  • Brian says:

    Surprise, surprise. Anti-vaxer commentary finds a home in the SD comments section.

    Bravo to the Met. With 3,000 employees and up to 4,000 audience members on any given night, this step will prevent serious illness and potentially save lives. Every concert hall should follow suit.

    • Tiredofitall says:

      Inflated numbers, but yes.

    • Kyle says:

      Since only a very small percentage of vaccinated people experience serious symptoms or die (at percentages akin to many other risks we all blithely accept) this step by The Met really only saves lives of electively unvaccinated people who electively attend public events. As a vaccinated person, I do not want to submit to a society of restrictions and burdens of proof in order to protect those people and/or attempt to further reduce the already very small risk to myself. That seems a very poor trade off to me.

      • Saxon says:

        Well said Kyle. It will be interesting to see how long this policy lasts since it will also be very expensive and time consuming to implement at the door of the venue.

        The truth is, once the majority of people have been vaccinated, the small number who don’t want to take the vaccine won’t make any real negative difference to public health. Why not just leave them alone.

    • Saxon says:

      Brian writes: “this step will prevent serious illness and potentially save lives”

      Err…no it won’t. It really won’t make much difference.

  • Karl says:

    The Boston Midsummer Opera says this on its website: “We are requesting patrons bring their COVID-19 vaccination card to show with their tickets or wear a mask to the event.”

  • Monsoon says:

    If you want cultural institutions open during the middle of a pandemic, this is what it’s going to take.

    Even as a vaccinated person, I’m a bit wary of sitting in a 3,000+ seat auditorium, especially during the winter when so many people are coughing and sneezing.

    And with the current uptick thanks to people who refuse to get vaccinated, we’re probably headed to states re-imposing limits on indoor gatherings.

    • V.Lind says:

      The anti-vaccers do not think of others. They think of themselves and their “freedom,” which they interpret as being devoid of ANY restraint (others would call that licence). There is an international crisis going on, and every nation on earth, regardless of ideology, has responded to it as a medical matter. Except the US, where the Trumperati have declared it a political one and have generally ignored it from the get go, infecting others willy-nilly.

      Good on the Met for taking a stand. People have been given plenty notice. Get your vaccine papers out.

      • John Kelly says:

        Yes, I had a “conversation” with an antivaxxer while playing poker in Vegas two weeks ago along the lines of “how terrible masks are as a restriction of our freedom.” I suggested that Stop Lights were a far greater imposition………………of course the person will be relying on his “maintenance dose of hydroxychloroquine” to keep him safe “80% effective.” I asked him how often his pockets aces lost to a lower pocket pair (they are 80% to win every time) – and that shut him up……………

        • Hannah L. Rosen says:

          This is even FUNNIER!!!!!

          The UK hasn’t the brightest bulbs leading them no matter their ‘facts and science’. They’re still acquiring it no matter their vaxx status.

          https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/07/17/1017317349/uk-health-secretary-covid-positive

          Their arrogance is no match for the Kung Flu!

        • Dennis Arvada says:

          You need to ‘educate’ your Democrat friends from Texas who carried their infected carcasses to meet Kamala. So far 6 turned up POSITIVE!!!!!! Who knows who else they were in contact with from the time they got jabbed??

          Oh and lest we forget Pelosi’s aide who just turned up to work side by side with her POSITIVE!

          As ‘college educated’ people who lean left, their failure to get tested PRIOR to traveling and entering federal premises should get them charged with FELONY aggravated assault which is certainly worse than the January 6 gathering.

          This is precisely why listening to obnoxious lefties leads to ruin.

      • Tiredofitall says:

        Freedom requires responsibility, for yourself and for others.

      • Antonia says:

        There’s always Brazil.

    • Hayne says:

      “…current uptick thanks to people who refuse to get vaccinated.” The CDC gave up counting breakthrough cases of “vaccinated” people. They only count them now if they are admitted to a hospital.

      • Monsoon says:

        What’s your point?

        If the vaccine prevents people from being hospitalized and dying, I’d call that a huge freaking success.

        And all of the data shows that’s the case. Infection and hospitalization rates are up in counties with low vaccination rates. And virtually everyone in the hospital with COVID hasn’t been vaccinated.

        • Hayne says:

          Proof please. CDC doesn’t count vaccinated who get covid19 if they don’t go into a hospital but they do count all the “unvaccinated” who don’t go into a hospital. CDC won’t even count a “vaccinated” person as covid19 admitted to a hospital if their PCR test is at say, 28 instead of the max 27 allowed by their standards. “Unvaccinated” are still at the old standards of 40. Forget about the reliability of the tests as they are. I realize the propaganda is constantly bombarding us 24/7 from a certain narrative and it’s very difficult to overcome.

        • Antonia says:

          Deaths of the unvaccinated will soon follow. It takes usually at least 3 weeks for the avg. hospitalized Covid sufferer to die. A few weeks more and we will lose many more Americans to this hideous virus.

          • Hayne says:

            There are 3 stages in Covid19 infection.
            What does the CDC recommend for the early stage so the patient doesn’t have to go to a hospital?

        • Karl says:

          If the vaccine works so well why do vaccinated people care if others around them are not vaccinated? And where does this stop? Are people going to have to prove they’ve had the flu vaccine too? Hepatitis? Get a negative AIDS test?

          • Hayne says:

            These “vaccines” don’t work well at all. Besides their UNKNOWN effects on people down the road, “vaccinated” people are creating these new strains such and the new lambda out of Peru.

          • John Kelly says:

            https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/health/lambda-variant-covid-peru.html

            Hayne – your grasp of science remains tenuous at best but your tendency to dispense BS remains intact I see..

          • Hayne says:

            You are absolutely right about the lambda strain. The delta strain is 99.7% the same as the original. It is being used as a pretext to push for more mRNA jabs. The lambda strain may well be used down the road for the same thing. My point about “vaccinated” people creating new strains remains valid, however. Scientists are pointing out that the original virus is mutating to get around the mRNA in vaccinated people.

          • John Kelly says:

            All coronaviruses mutate – e.g. the flu. This isn’t “news”, it’s expected. And it has nothing to do with whether or not you are vaccinated or not. You could also say that the virus is mutating to “get around” the immunity associated with the people having already had Covid.

          • Hayne says:

            No, these “vaccinations” are creating mutations that wouldn’t have happened at this rate if there were no “vaccines.”
            Vaccinated people who are admitted to hospitals with the delta virus are 5.7 times likely to die than unvaccinated people.
            People who have already had Covid19 are immune from whatever the virus has mutated to. I want to stress to “vaccinated” people that there are easy ways to fight this such as keeping your immunity system strong, early treatment, etc.

          • Saxon says:

            Hayne: “Vaccinated people who are admitted to hospitals with the delta virus are 5.7 times likely to die than unvaccinated people.”

            This is…rubbish. The vaccine will be reasonably effective against all variants of the virus, and will significantly reduce the chance of serious illness should you catch Covid.

            Over time, there is “genetic drift” of the virus, and the vaccine will have to be tweaked to better match the new variant. But this is normal and something we already do for the flu-jab.

          • John Kelly says:

            One thing we can be 100% certain of – Hayne failed Science Class and Statistics……

          • Trish Silverstein says:

            Well, well…

            Leftists now have 5 vaxxed Texans who suddenly tested positive. Interesting how only their Washington junket revealed this. Maybe not all of them actually got vaxed.

            They’re proving the logic of the Right at this point after their ranting. They caught it anyway!!

            Then there’s the ever-projecting, sarcastic Kamala Harris who greeted each of them. She’s petrified now! Over at Walter Reed this weekend getting tested after EXPOSURE by her own libtards. LMFAO!!!!

            They’re all thanking Trump for quickly mobilizing the medical community as Dems were too busy supporting antifa and blm’s destruction and murder. Looking forward to Trump 2024…if not sooner based on what’s going on in Atlanta alone.

            https://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2021/07/18/texas-democrats-test-positive-covid-19-washington-fled-gop-voting-bill-kamala-harris/stories/202107180230

          • Saxon says:

            Hayne writes: “These “vaccines” don’t work well at all. ”

            Bizarre. The vaccine dramatically reduces the incidence of serious illness from catching Covid. However, it won’t stop you getting Covid, or mean that some will still become very ill; it just makes serious illness much less likely.

            Bottom line, the vaccine works pretty well, and anyone who is “high risk” would be foolish not to take the vaccine.

        • Saxon says:

          Monsoon writes: “And virtually everyone in the hospital with COVID hasn’t been vaccinated.”

          Err…not true, at least in Europe. The vaccine significantly reduces serious illness from catching Covid, but it doesn’t completely eliminate it. Around half of people in hospital have been given at least the first vaccine dose.

    • COVID Shot up in my bones says:

      You sound so white privileged assuming everyone has the intelligence to get vaccinated.

      What will the blacks do?!?!

      Mr. Biden educated everyone the blacks aren’t black lest they vote for him as their grand master. They also can’t manage to get ID’s, voter registration or lawyers as he recently preached.

  • John Kelly says:

    You would have to arrive an hour early to get in if they check a certificate as well as the women’s handbags (which they already do).

    • Tiredofitall says:

      Clutch my pearls…the inconvenience!!!!!!!

      • John Kelly says:

        3500 or so people past 8 ticket “checkers” – think about it – I’m just sayin’ it’s impractical. And while some wear pearls most don’t and you can still get a great seat upstairs for $30 or stand for $10. The Met is far from elitist. Try that at the Vienna State opera…………

        • Tiredofitall says:

          The Met’s house management was adequately able to staff up for security checks after 9/11 without incident.

          Besides, the Met hasn’t had 3500 people attend a performance for years. In Peter”s dreams.

          • John Kelly says:

            Yes it has (e.g. Porgy and Bess). Don’t believe everything you read on SD, I’ve been to numerous absolutely full house productions over the last several years.

          • Tiredofitall says:

            I know the numbers like the back of my hand. For a fact, the numbers produced by the Met cannot be believed. (Yes, the phone call is coming from inside the house…)

    • Saxon says:

      Kelly writes: “You would have to arrive an hour early to get in if they check a [vaccine] certificate…”

      Yes. I doubt that the policy will last very long.

      I suspect once performances start happening, within a short time even the most terrified will start to understand we can return to comparative normality without too much harm.

  • John Kelly says:

    I should add that in New York it’s possible to obtain an “Excelsior Pass” which shows you were vaccinated and this has been touted as something Broadway theaters may want to insist on. Great idea up to a point – people from New Jersey and Connecticut have a different system and are ineligible for this pass and would therefore have to bring a certificate. I live in NY but was vaccinated in CT and have a certificate on my cellphone. Reading glasses required…………….
    Note also that about 68% of eligible New Yorkers (the people who would show up at the Met) have been fully vaccinated and the numbers from NJ and CT are around the same. I would imagine that the Met audience (being perhaps more intelligent?) would be vaccinated at a higher percentage.

    • Tiredofitall says:

      As of a few days ago, NJ also has an app, called “Docket”. However, their governor (rather disingenuously) maintains it is not a vaccination “passport”. Let’s see how long it will be before large NJ entertainment venues require vaccination proof…

      Regardless, they can flash their phone for the Met usher as they enter. Easy.

      • John Kelly says:

        He or she will need very good eyesight and are they actually going to check the name matches the ticket holder’s say – driving license? It’s a nutsy suggestion. I can get into Canada faster.

    • Tom Phillips says:

      Very true and in close to 5 decades of attending performances at the Met, I have NEVER encountered anyone with the ultra-right wing neandrathalic views expressed by so many of the commentators here (and the same is true in my experience for classical music in general).

    • Kyle says:

      I am vaccinated, and I wanted to be. My intelligence tells me that I probably didn’t need the vaccine and it would make sense to see what happens with mRNA in humans over a normal testing period before injecting it into my body. Suggesting that a lack of intelligence is the reason people haven’t been vaccinated is simply a biased insult. It’s also a very good reason why unvaccinated people might dismiss your point of view.

      • John Kelly says:

        MRNA has been around for almost 10 years as a technology and has been tested but obviously not on the scale it is now being implemented. I reckon you’re OK with your Pfizer and Moderna shots. So far I have been fine as have millions of others.

  • J Barcelo says:

    No problem here; there will be shady people nearby selling counterfeit Covid cards for a small fee. Just like fake ID cards, capitalists always are at the ready to provide a need.

  • down the rabbit hole we go... says:

    This is really against human rights. It is not a question of being for or against the vaccine, but when you go down the rabbit hole, you will see a huge population division occur and moreover, more and more of your civil liberties being taken away. Test results are more than acceptable at the door from the last 48 hours. Bad decision.

    • V.Lind says:

      What civil liberty is being taken away? If you have the right not to be vaccinated — and I am not sure about that — you have the right to stay away from events for the vaccinated.

    • Emil says:

      Are we talking about the human right to risk the health of other people, or the human right to invent human rights out of whole cloth?

      • Hayne says:

        “Vaccine” makers have stated that the “vaccines” will not prevent you from getting Covid19 and will not prevent you from spreading covid19.
        How dare you risk my health!

        BTW, the right to bodily integrity is an inherent human right. It’s not open for dispute, especially with the pathetic evidence of the “vaccines” effectiveness and the dangers associated with them. You are all part of an experiment that was never tested for long term effects. Was this explained to you all? Did you give informed consent for this?

        • Emil says:

          And no one’s forcing you to take the vaccine. But no one’s forcing you to go to the opera either. So don’t take it, fine, risk the health of everyone around you. Just don’t be offended when other people want to protect their health by not associating with you.
          At least the MET is kind enough to continue broadcasts for people like you.

          • Hayne says:

            “Vaccinated” people can spread it also.
            Works both ways. Therefore nobody should go to the opera:)

        • Tiredofitall says:

          “the right to bodily integrity is an inherent human right”…if that were really true, the world would support abortion rights, trans rights, etc.

          Society ultimately decides our rights.

    • Tom Phillips says:

      Wasn’t aware of any “human right” to attend an operatic (or any live) performance and infect multitudes of others in your midst. Call the ACLU!!!!!!!!

    • Hayne says:

      The Great Reset.

    • Antonia says:

      Oh, don’t worrry, it’ll all be reversed the next time a Trump candidate becomes president. (If in the 2024 cycle, Trump or DeSantis, no difference.)

    • Will Wilkin says:

      I suppose your argument would have to allow nudists also to attend, otherwise their personal freedom has been lost down the rabbit hole. Pure liberty is the enemy of community standards, public health, and civilization itself. In fact it could not exist, because once the libertines destroy all civic solidarity, the result will be a failed state and the rise of warlords, who care only about the liberty of the chief thug, all others must show total submission or be disappeared.

    • Indeed says:

      No civil liberties are being taken away. If that’s your argument, why would it be less intrusive to be asked for a test result taken the last 48 hours. Grow up, get your vax, and you’ll be fine.

  • Y says:

    After the Met hired a Grand Inquisitor, I mean a “Chief Diversity Officer,” I wasn’t going to attend any future performances anyway. They can go bankrupt for all I care.

    • Paul Sekhri says:

      Good thing we don’t care.

    • Tom Phillips says:

      I’m sure there’ll be widespread mourning about your absence. But no doubt you can find many MAGA rallies/meetings etc. to attend instead.

    • Bill says:

      You sure showed us! To make your point, you’re going to not attend the opera. Good thing you told us, as we probably wouldn’t have known of your terrific foolishness, er, sacrifice otherwise.

  • Claude says:

    You’re a bad person Norman. You and your sad gang are not of any value, have never been and no one will remember you.

    • V.Lind says:

      Has this post prompted this ridiculous spew? it merely reports a statement by the Met. NL has not participated in the conversation, and has neither endorsed nor scoffed at the Met statement.

    • Mr.Humble says:

      And you are?????

    • John Kelly says:

      ………..any relation to Marcus Aurelius? That’s straight out of Book IV of his “meditations”…………

    • Tiredofitall says:

      Claude who???

    • BRUCEB says:

      Whereas Claude, on the other hand…

    • Antonia says:

      What a cruel thing to say to someone serving classical music afficionados, who have so little airspace and cyberspace. You’re here; Norman must be providing something of value to you. Your actions speak so hard I can’t hear your words.

      Norman, keep up the great job! Even your enemies come here to read!

  • Joe Pearce says:

    Well, this will provide the Met a good ‘out’ if people don’t show up on opening night for the piece of politically-socially-inspired garbage they are planning to put on on opening night. Deprived of opera for a year and a half, their audience is now to be hit with an opera based on the life of Charles Blow, a far-left opinion writer for The New York Times. People want to see that about as much as they would welcome LULU as an opening night celebratory offering. So, if they don’t sell tickets, they can now blame it on the Covid virus. Actually, I think the Met and the Broadway theaters will be half (or more) empty for the entire season, given that even vaccinated people are wary of sitting in close proximity to others, most people hate wearing masks indoors (which they might be asked to do if not vaccinated), a lot of older opera lovers have just gotten used to not going and may continue to not do so – especially to see an opera on the life of Charles Blow – , Broadway audiences depend on tourists, and tourism has sunk, absolutely sunk and will probably not come back to full strength for a decade, the prices at both the opera and on Broadway are out of most people’s reach, and the type of people who most inhabit the Met are not the type of people who are going to refuse to get vaccinated for ‘political’ reasons to begin with. I think the Met is going to have a very lousy season anyway, and if the musicians do not come to an agreement fairly soon, the whole question may be academic anyway.

    • Indeed says:

      @Joe Pearce, triggered easy?

    • John Kelly says:

      You haven’t been into Manhattan lately obviously. Comedy clubs are jammed and I fully expect (and would be willing to bet a significant sum with you) that the Opera will be very well attended. The production you refer to “Fire Up in my Bones” was well reviewed in the NYT (St Louis performance) by Tomassini and is also being done at the Lyric this season. I am going myself. The Met should be doing new operas as well as the ever popular Puccini etc.

  • Jonathan says:

    It’s about time NY’s cultural institutions stepped up to reassure their audiences. Definitely the right move. Carnegie Hall doesn’t seem to have the guts. It told the NY Times it would require vaccines, but I tried twice to get confirmation from Carnegie and received only vague, noncommittal responses.

  • JB says:

    What about kids under 12 that can not get vaccinated ?

    • V Lind says:

      Lot of them at the Met, are there? The much-discussed problem for classical music must be over, then.

  • Tom Phillips says:

    Perfectly understandable and quite welcome news. As a subscribe/regular attendee, it is a great relief to know I’ll only be seated near fully vaccinated people in the quite close corners of the Met.

  • Concerned Opera Buff says:

    Proof of vaccination is useless if no one shows up. The big 3 US opera cities, NY Met, Chicago Lyric, San Francisco, have all had big rise in violent crime, including armed robberies, carjackings, street attacks by roving gangs. I used to be able to take a bus home at midnight after the Lyric performance ended. I wouldn’t do that now. Crime in Chicago is out of control. San Francisco and New York are not too far behind. The big 3 opera houses might become white elephants if patrons won’t go downtown. Stop worrying about vaccinations and start worrying more about crime. I wouldn’t sing now at the Lyric, unless I had a bodyguard to and from the hotel.

    • Emil says:

      Perfectly valid point, except for the fact it does not have a shred of truth to it and is entirely false. Crime is sharply down all through the US compared to 1990, and the US is just about at the safest it’s ever been.

      • John Kelly says:

        Correct mostly – crime is down except for murder – which is up – and worrying. Nowhere near as bad as the 1970s and 80s but still a bit unfortunate if you’re the victim.

      • Hayne says:

        Last week 116 were shot in Chicago with 18 homicides. 108 children have been shot this year, 16 of them killed. Crime statistics are down but you should have stopped before saying it’s the safest it’s ever been.
        It’s ok though. Most of them are minorities and the left doesn’t really care about them, except for lip service. Think I’m kidding? Remember all the BLM protests against the killings? Me neither. That’s because they’re a Marxist organization and Black peoples’ plights mean nothing to them. How about going to an inner city prison, I mean school and look who runs this garbage. Look at the absurd drug laws we have that helps create this crime. Look at all the families with no father, thanks to the welfare state.
        Please, I’m not directly addressing you but to all the self righteous people who honestly don’t give a s**t about minorities and pretend they do.

    • Tom Phillips says:

      I’ve lived in both Chicago and New York for over a decade each and even now New York City (and San Francisco”s) violent crime rate is nowhere near Chicago’s, something of which its boosterish proponents going back to the Daley years have always been in denial. Despite a murder rate 3 times higher than those cities, Chicago has never taken controlling or combatting violent crime seriously, mostly due to such media as the Tribune, Sun-Times, Reader, WBEZ etc. etc. etc. which oppose even the mildest anti-crime policies because of who it would “target”.

  • Corno di Caccia says:

    This is good stuff. Great to read of an artistic institution making plans for the near future as a way out of this mess we’re all in. Personally, I think vaccinations should be made compulsory and those who refuse to take them, for whatever banal political reason, should just lose out. As a musician I’m desperate to get playing in orchestras again – it’s been too long away, now – and if that depended on a certificate of proof that I’ve had both jags, then so be it; but, of course, our glorious leader here in Scotland won’t introduce this measure which is madness, in my opinion. We need to move forward now.
    Live music is needed in our lives more than it ever has been.
    It’s time to venerate musicians and artists to the level we deserve and be helped to do what we do best…. entertaining our audiences, bringing some inspiration into people’s lives, as well as our own, and start the much needed healing process we must all surely crave.

    • Saxon says:

      First, the vaccine is not some miracle cure which will eliminate the virus. The virus will still be around, and people will still get ill from it sometimes (just much more rarely and mostly less seriously).

      Second, from a public health perspective, you really only need 70-80 percent of the population to have had the vaccine (or have recovered from having Covid) to seriously reduce the spread of the virus. Britain is pretty much at this position already.

      Hence there really isn’t a good reason not to start opening up and trying to get back to normal (although I understand that most people want this to happen cautiously). Vaccine passports don’t have any particular effect on whether opening up is sensible.

  • bruno michel says:

    Fantastic. As in France, as in many European countries in the future. That is the way. Macron said it: Freedom does not come without responsibility. The problem will be enforcing it without a US-wide (or international, although one wonders how many foreigners will be going to NYC, let alone the Met, in the near future) vaccine certification system.

  • Nicholas Ennos says:

    The “vaccination” causes death from auto immune disease within two to three years

    • Hayne says:

      Correction, it MAY cause deaths. There is evidence pointing to this or other serious effects. We don’t know now because it’s all a grand experiment. In a just world there should be trials for crimes against humanity.

    • John Kelly says:

      Just a couple of years to plan my funeral then. Better than having a funeral from having died of Covid perhaps. However, this is an inherently unscientific assertion (to go with so many others on this thread) because we haven’t experienced what you present – with no evidence.

  • Raymond Beegle says:

    I assume someone will challenge and sue.

    • Tiredofitall says:

      In the US, that is a given. I’m just waiting for the law firm commercials on television for class action suits.

    • Indeed says:

      “Anti-vaxxer” is not a class of citizen protected by anti-discrimination law.

      • Hayne says:

        Ah, but it’s NOT a vaccine they’re objecting to is it?

      • Saxon says:

        Indeed writes: ““Anti-vaxxer” is not a class of citizen protected by anti-discrimination law.”

        Er…it is mainly the young, the poor, and ethnic minorities who are not taking the vaccine. Age and race are protected characteristics, and in Britain, there are already threats to sue on the grounds of race discrimination.

  • Jake Thonis says:

    Of course. Of course this post has 155 comments. Move along people

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