COVID-19 ‘Elephant in the Room’ as NAB Show Looms

NAB estimates 85% of NAB Show participants are vaccinated against COVID-19 or “intend to be” by opening day Oct. 9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, emailed the association Sunday. The coronavirus is “the elephant in the room” as planning progresses for NAB’s first in-person Las Vegas show in 30 months, it said. “So many of us are ready to get back to seeing products in 3D and not 2D, back to face-to-face interactions, back to NAB Show,” it said. “The excitement is palpable. But, after a global pandemic, it can also be a little scary.” The World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the same day NAB canceled its Las Vegas show for that following month (see 2003110036). The WHO status remains. NAB Show will continue to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Clark County, Nevada, authorities on masks and other protocols, its website said. For those fully vaccinated, it’s “your choice” to wear a mask, it said. If not fully vaccinated, “please mask up.” The show is setting meeting rooms and "floor theaters" at 75% capacity, and is recommending exhibitors enforce 3-feet of social distancing in their booths. The level of COVID-19 "community transmission" was "high" for the week ended Friday, said the CDC. It reported that 40.6% of the county's population were fully vaccinated, compared with 49.1% nationally.