CTA ‘Optimistic’ on Fate of CES 2022, After NAB Show Goes Dark

CES 2022 organizers are “still moving ahead” with the Jan. 5-8 in-person show at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), emailed a spokesperson Thursday in reply to our queries about the fate of the event after surges in COVID-19's delta variant forced the cancellation of the Oct. 9-13 NAB Show 2021 at the same venue (see 2109150064 or 2109150062).

“CES is four months away,” said the spokesperson, promising “more announcements to come soon.” The NAB Show was canceled Wednesday with a little more than three weeks to spare. CTA is “optimistic” that CES 2022 will come off as planned, and organizers recently announced that the show “will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination to attend in-person,” she said. “To date, over 1100 companies have committed to exhibiting in Las Vegas.” That’s about a quarter of the CTA-quoted exhibitor participation at the last physical CES in January 2020.

CES 2022, like the canceled NAB Show 2021, will require attendees to be fully vaccinated, meaning they will have needed to get their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or their only dose of the Johnson & Johnson at least 14 days before entering the LVCC. Both events contracted with Clear’s free mobile app for U.S. attendees to share proof of vaccination at the door.

With Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policy on booster shots still in flux, CES 2022 isn't requiring boosters “at this time,” CTA said this week. In Pfizer's "big picture," third-dose "boosting is important" and "necessary" to protect individuals from the delta variant, Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group President Angela Hwang told the Bank of America Global Healthcare Conference virtually Wednesday. Pfizer's "hypothesis," subject to the findings of clinical trials, is that "we need to do the third booster and potentially do it seasonally sort of on an annual basis thereafter," she said.

CES 2022 registration opened this week, but only for show attendees who plan to travel to Las Vegas for the in-person event. CTA is promising registration details and other particulars later this year about the show's digital component but has said little about CES 2022 as a virtual experience for those unwilling or unable to travel to the LVCC. Organizers haven't named a vendor to produce CES 2022's virtual component, and CTA President Gary Shapiro earlier refused to say if Microsoft's contract as the official CES 2021 "technology partner" extended into the 2022 show.

With CES 2022 15+ weeks away from opening its LVCC doors, CTA "will continue to evaluate and expand our health safety protocols as medical recommendations evolve," said the show's website when we accessed it Thursday. Organizers "have been adapting our plans based on new and evolving information for events," it said. "Travel and events have changed and so has CES." Masks are currently required in all public indoor spaces in Las Vegas, it said: "CTA will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation, and additional protocols will be announced closer to the show. "

CTA is advising exhibitors to "communicate" the show's vaccine requirement to staff well before CES 2022 so they won't be turned away when they arrive in Las Vegas. It's recommending, but not requiring, that show booths have "plenty" of hand sanitizer available that's "visible and easily accessible." It's also advising, but not mandating, "frequent" booth cleanings, including regularly "disinfecting surfaces and wiping down high-touch items."