Dr. Anthony Fauci Believes Theaters, Concert Venues Could Reopen By Fall If Everything Goes According To Plan

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, has revealed that the widespread rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines would be instrumental in the reopening of theaters and concert venues by fall 2021.

At a conference held by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, the 80-year-old medical expert opened up about how an effective vaccination program could help the entertainment industry get back to its feet. Fauci noted that the program could assist the government in reopening the live entertainment venues and cinema halls as soon as the shots are available, The New York Times reported.

However, he made it clear that the people should still wear masks at all times and follow the social distancing protocols set by the government.

“If everything goes right, this is will occur sometime in the fall of 2021, so that 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,” NYT quoted Fauci, as saying at the conference.

Fauci said that normalcy could only return if 75-85% of the country’s population gets vaccinated. Despite the vaccination, the entertainment venues would still need to take better safety precautions if they want to start getting back to almost “full capacity” of seating.

“I think you can start getting back to the almost full capacity of seating. We’ll be back in the theaters – performers will be performing, audiences will be enjoying it. It will happen,” Fauci added.

The entertainment industry has suffered the most due to the devastating effects of the global health crisis. In May 2020, a report by Ampere Analysis revealed that the global entertainment industry was set to lose “$160 billion” over the next five years due to the pandemic.

As far as the virus is concerned, the U.S. is still the worst-affected nation in the entire world as cases continue to surge in almost every state. The country witnessed another 214,683 infections and 1,964 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking its death toll over 385,000.

Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden has just received his second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. After getting the shot, Biden said that his top priority is to make the vaccine available to everyone.

“My number one priority is getting the vaccine in people's arms, like we just did today, as rapidly as we can,” Biden told reporters.