Theaters welcome the end of the vaccine passport with a certain indifference, as this measure has not really affected ticket sales since its implementation last September.
It is true that some spectators may initially feel less safe without a vaccination requirement, but the fears will eventually dissipate on their own, it is believed in the performing arts community.
“Will it activate a fear among some of finding themselves in a room full with people who are potentially not vaccinated? Maybe, but I hope not. The message from Public Health is generally positive. I think we are going to get used to the normality of life again, ”says the director of the RIDEAU association, Julie-Anne Richard.
According to Mme Richard, the verification of the vaccine proof of each spectator represented a small logistical challenge at the entrance of the rooms. In this sense, the abolition of the health passport, scheduled for March 14, is good news for performance halls.
But in the industry, it is reported that it was far from being the most irritating measure, as more than 90% of Quebec adults received at least two doses of the vaccine. The compulsory mask is much more likely to discourage part of the public from returning to see shows, underlines the director of RIDEAU.
More alcohol sold
“Since there is the compulsory mask, we sell a lot more alcohol than before. Probably because it gives people an excuse to remove it, ”says Michel Sabourin, co-owner of the bar-show Le Club Soda, to whom the end of the vaccine passport is neither hot nor cold.
The Legault government did not advance on Tuesday on the end of the mandatory face covering. It could therefore be one of the only health measures still in place in the middle of the show in mid-March, when the vaccine passport will no longer be required and that all the rooms, including the Bell Center and the Center Videotron, can once again be filled.
Catherine Voyer-Léger, director general of the Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT), foresees that the possible lifting of the regulation on the compulsory mask would provoke a much stronger reaction than the abolition of the vaccine passport, which will not change much, according to her.
“We hear a lot more about wearing a mask than about the vaccine passport. On the one hand, there are people who tell us that they would not feel comfortable in a full room without a mask.
On the other hand, there are people who make it clear to us that spending two hours sitting with a mask is really long. People really have different reactions,” adds Catherine Voyer-Léger.
Other relief requested
In addition, the director of the CQT expects the CNESST guide to be updated, now that the vaccine passport is doomed to disappear. Because since last month, actors have been required to have received three doses, or two doses and a PCR test certifying that they have already had COVID-19, in order to be able to play intimate scenes without a mask.
“There is really a blur on the relevance of the third dose for artists. If the public no longer needs the vaccine passport, there is an inequity that we do not really understand, ”she says.
Remember that the vaccination passport has been required since September in theaters and cinemas. It has never been compulsory in libraries and museums. Some places still asked for it, like Pointe-à-Callière.
Following Quebec’s announcement, the institution told the Duty that she would no longer require proof of vaccination from Wednesday.