Notorious California music and arts festival Coachella has reversed the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for its sold-out April 2022 event. Instead, they will require ticket-holders to present either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of the festival.
The announcement came from a Story posted to the Coachella Instagram account yesterday (October 12) afternoon, which read:
After seeing first-hand the low transmission data and successful implementation of safety protocols at our other festivals this past month, we feel confident we can update our health policy to allow for:
Negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of the event
OR
Proof of full vaccination.
Obviously, Instagram Story posts only last 24 hours, so this seems like a sly way to make such a major update to a policy that will directly affect the health and safety of attendees.
Coachella's last tweet from back in August still states that promoter Goldenvoice will be requiring proof of vaccination as of October 1 for all of the company's events. Goldenvoice is owned by AEG, which instated a full-vaccination requirement for US concertgoers and staff members in August — though the company allowed that "the vaccination policy will be implemented as an open-ended one, with any changes or reversals informed by updates relating to infection rates, transmission data, variant developments and local and federal regulations" [via Variety].
Science has been clear about the efficacy of vaccines in preventing hospitalization and death from the virus, as well as making you less likely to transmit it to others.
See the fest's IG Story announcement of the policy change below.
Coachella announced its 2022 dates back in June after cancelling its two previous iterations in 2021 and 2020.
The announcement came from a Story posted to the Coachella Instagram account yesterday (October 12) afternoon, which read:
After seeing first-hand the low transmission data and successful implementation of safety protocols at our other festivals this past month, we feel confident we can update our health policy to allow for:
Negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of the event
OR
Proof of full vaccination.
Obviously, Instagram Story posts only last 24 hours, so this seems like a sly way to make such a major update to a policy that will directly affect the health and safety of attendees.
Coachella's last tweet from back in August still states that promoter Goldenvoice will be requiring proof of vaccination as of October 1 for all of the company's events. Goldenvoice is owned by AEG, which instated a full-vaccination requirement for US concertgoers and staff members in August — though the company allowed that "the vaccination policy will be implemented as an open-ended one, with any changes or reversals informed by updates relating to infection rates, transmission data, variant developments and local and federal regulations" [via Variety].
Science has been clear about the efficacy of vaccines in preventing hospitalization and death from the virus, as well as making you less likely to transmit it to others.
See the fest's IG Story announcement of the policy change below.
Coachella announced its 2022 dates back in June after cancelling its two previous iterations in 2021 and 2020.
