The Met won’t let you in without a booster
NewsThe Metropolitan Opera last night imposed the tightest Covid rules of any theatre on earth.
Starting January 17, all eligible adult staff, artists and audience members will require proof of a Covid booster to enter the house.
Peter Gelb told his press department: ‘We think we should be setting an example. Hopefully we will have an influence on other performing arts companies as well. I think it’s just a matter of time — everyone is going to be doing this.’
Hard to mince words on this, but this is actual insanity, and to a dangerous degree. For those previously infected, the booster is profoundly unnecessary and frankly superfluous, and is making many actually quite sick – even leading to days off work. This kind of thinking is medical history running in fast reverse. Fascinating and frightening to behold.
A great shame that you have no idea what you’re talking about. Bravo to Peter Gelb for taking the lead here in keeping his staff, performers, and audiences safe.
Having a booster makes no difference in whether or not you can still transmit the virus. Additionally the booster is not tweaked for new variants, so the booster offer little additional protection.
The only measure that makes any sense at this point is to TEST the audience, regardless of their vaccine status.
Peter Gelb is not actually taking steps to keep people safe, he is taking steps to give people the false impression that they are safe.
Questions? Correct. There are no more questions.
Answering your own question is clear evidence you have no idea what you are talking about. The actual clinical studies demonstrate that the booster is ~ 80% effective in preventing hospitalization and death. The fact that the existing vaccine is still efficacious against the newest variant is because the mutations DO NOT affect binding of the existing vaccine-induced Ab repertoire from binding to the Spike protein. Regrettably, the increase in infectivity of the new variant means that the balance between virion titer and Ab titer has shifted such that lower virion titers are able to cause disease but only slightly. Fortunately, the actual disease caused by the new variant is less severe. Regardless the answer is still the same, getting 80-90% vaccinated will result in less virus replicating and fewer mutants.
Wrong, the TWO doses are 80% effective. No-one knows very definitively about the booster providing worthwhile extra protection in this regard in low risk age groups, and certainly not against spreading the virus. And it is certainly utterly absurd (if not plain wicked) to enforce on people who’ve already had Covid infection.
Dr “Doesn’t-Know-What-He’s-Talking-About” MBBS MSc MRCP(UK) PhD
Are you spreading disinformation due to an underlying syndrome of degree envy?
Herr Dr so and so. I take your MBBS MSc MRCP(UK) PhD and raise you a MD PhD with three medical board licenses on two continents and a Professorship in Pharmacology and Radiology and add some sprinkle of COVID research in my lab:
You are wrong. People who had Covid infection had a HIGHER chance of getting Omicron than those who had the vaccine. Since you have apparently a PhD you should know how to do a search of the literature.
Actually, that is completely false: actual data just released by trained scientists; not some guy sitting in his bathrobe pulling misinformation out of their pocket or somewhere else and posting it on a classical music comments board shows a three shot vaccine regime of both Pfizer and Moderna as they are currently formulated offers virtually the same protection against the delta and as such, an adjusted omicron booster is not necessary.
You are 100% wrong. Do some homework.
This is why were going to get worse and worse variants. Idiots that walk among us.
Ill-informed. The booster is the one that offers you protection from a severe case. But I agree with the testing.
And congratulations to you for your outstanding virtue signaling! I’m sure Peter is glad to see your rebuke of an antivaxxer!
I think you may have no idea what you’re talking about. But since you claim to be an expert on all things medical, why don’t you tell us how to do brain surgery or what chemotherapy regime is necessary for non Hodgkin’s lymphoma..
Comrade Tonreihe, you have your facts exactly wrong. But you’re almost certainly a troll and having a laugh while drinking some hot buttered vodka. If are a real person, then you would do well to educate yourself before you imitate a moron.
Spasiba!
And bravo to Peter Gelb for this!
“hot buttered vodka”
Great, now I want that. (Sounds revolting, but also intriguing!)
Будем!
“imitate a moron”
Statistically speaking, people really don’t have to imitate that special trait.
Try reading some of the early data. You can find it on Eric Topol’s twitter stream (just to help you out). Unless actual science is a problem for you….
You are a ‘doctor’ of alternative facts. Bravo to the Met. We need to work as safely as we can!
I doubt you are any kind of “doctor” – except of disinformation.
It’s not “first do no harm” anymore, it’s “drug drug drug!! sell sell sell!”
@”Dr Tonreihe” (what a pretentious name)
People like you are the entire reason why we still have to deal with this BS. Go back to hiding under a rock.
Uh . . . . no. Read up on the booster and the omicron variant.
This is why were going to get worse and worse variants. Idiots that walk among us.
You seem to not be well informed here and spreading false information. S Africa’s population faced previously waves of Alpha (Wild type) and Delta, so most of the infected ones had prior infections yet still got omicron. The Booster is not “profoundly unnecessary and frankly superfluous” – it is the only way to face Omicron (and masking etc). Your kind of thinking is against medical history and knowledge.
The man was a plague before anyone ever heard of Covid. How can New York inoculate itself against such an artistically bankrupt dilettante? Peter has never leaned that it is his job, first and foremost, to fill the theater, not do whatever he can to keep it empty. People are being tested constantly. What more does he want? The next variant should be named “The Gelb Variant”.
These people don’t care if the theater is empty as long as they can use its stage as a TV studio!
This is why were going to get worse and worse variants. Idiots that walk among us.
Of course Norman can’t post something about the Met without taking a dig at them, characterizing this as extreme. But in a post from Dec. 15, he notes that to attend a Vienna Philharmonic press conference, “a 2G+ certification is required for attendance at the press conference (vaccinated or recovered, plus a negative PCR test made within the last 24 hours).”
Gelb says “everyone is going to be doing this.” He’s right.
Gelb’s response is nothing less than stunning and brave! Our art and artists will never be safe until we remove the unvaxxed from society, and artists and spectators are up-to-date with no less than six jabs (I won’t go through all the research here). Until then, it is imperative for the safety of the artists and the integrity of the art form that we cancel all live and streaming performances (computer viruses are unaffected by the vax). We simply cannot afford one more life to be lost to this virus! Cancel everything!
Learn to honour death and the dead, you full-blown clown.
Better morn in sweet sorrow, than live like monkey-clowns.
A good move. Easy to validate (because they’re already staffed up to verify double vaccination). Expect it citywide. I spoke to a friend in Miami who said “it’s safe down here as long as you don’t go anywhere”. Well it’s safe in NYC and I go out all the time…….. I was at Tosca last night (the one SD suggested might be compromised because Scarpia was subbed). It was superb. Radvanovsky absolutely magnificent and the best Tosca I’ve ever witnessed. Jagde excellent, big voice who could actually match her for decibels and quite the squillo. YNS conducted wonderfully (though I detested his mannered Eroica last week – yech). Dividing the orchestra strings to his left and winds to his right (Stokowski style) led to rich rewards in terms of textural clarity. Should always do that. Vaccine check easy. Place was 90% full, not bad for a Wednesday. There are a couple of performances before Xmas to come. If you can get to the Met (and are vaccinated) do not miss this. Yuja Wang also gave a rave review on her Instagram.
I wonder if it was Gelb on his own or did the city or state lawmakers have anything to do with it. If the latter then his hands were tied he has to follow municipal and state mandates whether he agrees with them or not.
Currently 1 shot is required for indoor activity; it goes up to two shots on December 27.
But I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until the booster becomes a city-wide requirement.
Does Peter Gelb have bell’s palsy? His face looks a little crooked in that pictures. I wonder if he took Pfizer or Moderna.
Oy vey…that is all I can say in response to that…’interesting’ take.
You are right. It looks like something is wrong with his face. Wonder if he will have to take time off of work.
“Fully-vaccinated” means whatever an organization wants it to mean, the science be damned.
Not in New York City. Just as Gelb (disclaimer; I’m not a fan) was prescient when he announced the vaccine mandate for attendance, he was ahead of the curve. Same this time. Boosters–and probably the next generation of vaccine–will become the mandate.
New York City is totally open, unlike many cities around the world. That could change in a heartbeat, but in the meantime those that call it home are grateful for the caution.
Good for the MET. For those who say this is driving away customers, a lot of people WON’T come unless they know everything is vaxxed to the max. Just like you won’t invest in a company that doesn’t adhere to that other communist dictum: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
But maybe Norman should turn off comments on some of these reports; we really don’t need yet another vax/anti-vax debate among people who largely don’t know anything about epidemiology – or music, for that matter.
Yes – and ESPECIALLY not about music!
The Metropolitan Opera is now the safest place in the universe.
No. It’s full of lunatics.
Best avoid and stay far away.
For once Gelb is right, but that wont stop the anti-vax conservative psychopaths who frequent this site from pissing and moaning about it. I prefer having cultural events to attend, so let us be boosted!
“The tightest Covid rules of any theatre on earth.” How ridiculous. If anyone on this site bothered to realize that things happen outside of New York and London they would know that there are scads of theatres, concert halls and opera houses instituting this same requirement. Stop being so provincial.
lol I guess they missed the huge outbreak at Cornell where plenty of the cases were triple vaccinated. And the triple vaccinated Israeli doctor who passed it to another triple vaccinated doctor. Most people have taken 2 or 3 vaccines in less than a year, and the outbreaks are worse than ever. It’s time to admit that the vaccines don’t prevent transmission well enough to make mandating them logical. If you want to get 3 vaccines a year on top of getting COVID, that’s fine, but your own fears are no reason to force it on others.
It is the right move at the right time (or a bit late, it comes 1/17/22. We see people everywhere getting infected with Omicron, even people with booster. basically Omicron changed the game, as Ed Young (The Atlantic) said it subtracts one shot from your slate, so fully vaccinated with Delta is equal to having just one shot with Omicron, and being boosted means you are fully vaccinated. And even then you can get it.