NEW YORK (AP) – The Metropolitan Opera will require booster shots against COVID-19 from the public and employees to enter the venue starting January 17.
“With the news of the rapid spread of the omicron variant,” the Met said in an email to the company on Wednesday, “it is clear that we must now take additional steps to protect our community.”
The company said that anyone who is not yet eligible to receive a booster shot will have a two-week grace period after they are eligible.
The Met was closed from March 2020 to September due to the pandemic, canceling 276 performances plus an international tour. It has drawn roughly 160,000 people for its first 59 performances this season, which runs through June. The average capacity has been 73%; the distribution of tickets has been limited to 3,700, compared to 4,000, with the first rows and seats standing unsold.
The Met employs up to 3,000 people on the days it functions.
“Our population is much larger than any other non-profit performing arts organization in the country, so we have to be at the forefront of health and safety,” said Met General Manager Peter Gelb, it’s a statement.
The company ordered its employees to be vaccinated last summer and has required proof of vaccination from the public since the season began.
