NJ concert venues’ vaccination rules shouldn’t bother anybody (Opinion)

See if you have a problem with this.

PNC Bank Arts Center, BB&T Pavilion in Camden and the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville will all be asking to see your proof of vaccination against COVID-19 before allowing you into one of their shows. If not that then proof of a negative COVID test.

Also, because it’s Live Nation that operates the Arts Center and the BB&T, many of the shows they promote taking place at Prudential Center, Met Life Stadium and even the Stone Pony Summer Stage will be requiring the same.

AEG Presents which operates Starland Ballroom also promotes shows at Met Life and Prudential and will be requiring it too.

Unfair?

Hardly. This is private business making a business decision. This isn’t the government. Many will complain that this is discriminatory and a violation of some imagined right to see a band. Too bad says the industry.

“Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows, and as of October 4 we will be following the model we developed for Lollapalooza and requiring this for artists, fans and employees at Live Nation venues and festivals everywhere possible in the U.S.,” Live Nation’s president and CEO Michael Rapino recently told NBC.

AEG agrees. Their COO Jay Marciano issued a statement saying, “Just a few weeks ago, we were optimistic about where our business, and country, were heading. The delta variant, combined with vaccine hesitancy, is pushing us in the wrong direction again. We realize that some people might look at this as a dramatic step, but it’s the right one.”

Is it dramatic? No more dramatic than a new virus in the human population killing 621,000 people in this country. It’s the socially responsible thing to do and one these businesses are making free of government intrusion. Just as so many major corporations are now making vaccination a condition of employment.

To anyone bothered by this I would directly ask you why? If it’s not the government mandating anything but private business making decisions they feel is best for themselves, what is so bothersome?

A Washington Post-ABC News poll found an overwhelming majority of Democrats are vaccinated but a majority of Republicans at the time the poll was taken were not. Isn’t capitalism and business deciding what’s best for itself a wholly Republican point of view? So why the complaints when businesses decide proof of vaccination for their venues is in their better interest?

I imagine the answer is these companies aren’t following your anti-vaxxer playbook, and how dare they, am I right?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.