Dr. Anthony Fauci sees a light at the end of the tunnel for live music events in the United States amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, spoke at an Association of Performing Arts Professionals conference on Saturday, January 9th. He feels optimistic that concerts and festivals can return in the fall of this year.
According to Dr. Fauci, depending on the status of vaccinations, live entertainment can return “sometime in the fall of 2021″. This would require providing herd immunity to the country. In order to reach this point, the United States must get about 75% to 85% of the country vaccinated.
At the rate the United States is currently distributing vaccinations, it seems possible that this percentage of vaccinated individuals is attainable. However, many worry that distribution rates are lower than many predicted. Dr. Fauci, on the other hand, claims that many issues slowing vaccinations are in the process of being fixed.
While this news is exciting to the music community, it’s likely many venues will likely still have COVID-19 precautions in place. Consequently, live events may still look slightly different when they return.
Though this timeline is vague, it is the first time Dr. Fauci provided insight on live music events during the entirety of the pandemic. While fall of 2021 seems far, this new time estimate gives fans a small sliver of hope for the future.
International Live Events
The United States if one of many countries struggling to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a small handful of countries are currently hosting live events like normal.
Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan are all locations that are currently able to put on full-scale events. In fact, Taiwan hosted a one-day Ultra Music Festival in November.
Additionally, Australia hosted many artists in the past few months including Hermitude, What So Not and Hayden James.
9 months of planning, 2 weeks quarantine (to get into a COVID free state on the West Coast of Australia) & I just got to close out a 10,000 person festival. pic.twitter.com/YNO4s1wrEi
— WHAT SO NOT (@WhatSoNot) December 8, 2020
The future remains unknown, but for the first time in months, Dr. Fauci feels optimistic about live music.