New York Comic Con attendees will have to be fully vaccinated to enter this year. New York Comic Con has been around since 2006. During the convention, get to dress up as their favorite comic book, movie, or TV characters and meet the actors who created them. The convention will take place in person at the Javitz Center. This year’s convention dates are October 7-10, 2021.
THR confirms that New York Comic Con guests will have to present a negative COVID test to attend. This new rule comes as the Delta variant rapidly accelerates in the United States, and New York City recently reinstated strict COVID protocols. Additionally, guests will still be able to meet and greet, but they will have to communicate to their favorite stars and characters through a plexiglass screen.
This time around, the restrictions go beyond mask mandates. NYC recently implemented a vaccine mandate for all indoor facilities. The vaccine mandate only applies to those over 12 years old as the FDA has not approved the COVID vaccine for those younger yet.
Convention organizer ReedPop doesn’t foresee much pushback for enforcing these COVID protocols. For a similar event called PAX West, the company implemented similar guidelines. They only received ten requests for refunds and even saw a significant increase in sales. All in all, the guidelines are for guests’ protection and become increasingly more of a necessity as COVID-19 cases increase. Most other conventions in 2020 and 2021 had to take place virtually due to the pandemic. Fortunately for comic fans, the guidelines allow New York Comic-Con to take place in person this October.
Source: THR