Covid Policy Update 2023
Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2023 9:55 am
The Anime Boston executive board has spent significant time monitoring the situation to determine our best course of action to not only ensure that our staff and attendees are safe, but that Anime Boston continues to be financially stable so that we can continue to exist. This process has never been one that we’ve taken lightly and it has been difficult to balance all considerations for this policy. This final and most recent decision was made over the course of a two week long process, where information was presented and intensely debated.
At the time of our first covid policy announcement for Anime Boston 2023, the bivalent booster was just released. We were initially satisfied to be taking a stand with our requirement of the bivalent booster this year, expecting to see more people embrace this new booster. At this time, we’ve observed that Massachusetts has a less than 30% adoption rate, with the majority above our demographic range, according to the CDC’s website. This severely limits the amount of people that would be able to attend Anime Boston 2023, so we need to make a compromise with the state of the world.
Anime Boston 2023’s policy going forward will be:
“All persons, including but not limited to attendees, exhibitors, guests, and staff, that are 6 years old or older, entering the Hynes Convention Center as well as the Sheraton spaces for Anime Boston must show proof of vaccination. Proof of vaccination must show you have completed your primary doses no later than two weeks prior to the start of the convention. Masks will continue to be highly encouraged, but will not be required.”
Evaluating the mask discussion, we announced in November that we would strongly encourage, but not require them. We have revisited this topic several times since. However, we found ourselves in a position where, even if we required masks, we would lack sufficient staff levels to adequately enforce such a policy. This staff shortfall is the result of multiple factors, potentially including but not limited to, the evolving attitude on masks, vaccines, and the endemic nature of Covid, changes to the volunteering environment due to socioeconomic restrictions, and a general shift to other interests during the pandemic. An upcoming announcement in May to release the federal state of emergency for the country by the President also supports this shift.
We know some people would rather take a “it’s better to try than not to try” approach in regards to a mask requirement. However, we believe that it would be disingenuous to both attendees and staff who would expect full compliance for their own safety and wellbeing. Knowing that we will not be able to meet those expectations, we feel it would be better to be transparent and honest about the realities of the situation, rather than to hope for an outcome that would be extremely unlikely.
We understand that this may put some people in a position they are not comfortable with, but we also understand that we in no way, are able to make everyone happy. We can only do the best we can with the information provided to us by people such as our staff, the CDC, and our everyday lives. We will continue to recommend that everyone decide what is best for them at this time. We do not anticipate this policy changing again prior to the start of the convention this year, however we will continue to monitor the situation for the next two weeks as we approach the deadline for our mask threshold.
If you have any questions regarding this covid policy, please reach out to our registration customer service team and they will be able to assist you.
Thank you for your understanding.
At the time of our first covid policy announcement for Anime Boston 2023, the bivalent booster was just released. We were initially satisfied to be taking a stand with our requirement of the bivalent booster this year, expecting to see more people embrace this new booster. At this time, we’ve observed that Massachusetts has a less than 30% adoption rate, with the majority above our demographic range, according to the CDC’s website. This severely limits the amount of people that would be able to attend Anime Boston 2023, so we need to make a compromise with the state of the world.
Anime Boston 2023’s policy going forward will be:
“All persons, including but not limited to attendees, exhibitors, guests, and staff, that are 6 years old or older, entering the Hynes Convention Center as well as the Sheraton spaces for Anime Boston must show proof of vaccination. Proof of vaccination must show you have completed your primary doses no later than two weeks prior to the start of the convention. Masks will continue to be highly encouraged, but will not be required.”
Evaluating the mask discussion, we announced in November that we would strongly encourage, but not require them. We have revisited this topic several times since. However, we found ourselves in a position where, even if we required masks, we would lack sufficient staff levels to adequately enforce such a policy. This staff shortfall is the result of multiple factors, potentially including but not limited to, the evolving attitude on masks, vaccines, and the endemic nature of Covid, changes to the volunteering environment due to socioeconomic restrictions, and a general shift to other interests during the pandemic. An upcoming announcement in May to release the federal state of emergency for the country by the President also supports this shift.
We know some people would rather take a “it’s better to try than not to try” approach in regards to a mask requirement. However, we believe that it would be disingenuous to both attendees and staff who would expect full compliance for their own safety and wellbeing. Knowing that we will not be able to meet those expectations, we feel it would be better to be transparent and honest about the realities of the situation, rather than to hope for an outcome that would be extremely unlikely.
We understand that this may put some people in a position they are not comfortable with, but we also understand that we in no way, are able to make everyone happy. We can only do the best we can with the information provided to us by people such as our staff, the CDC, and our everyday lives. We will continue to recommend that everyone decide what is best for them at this time. We do not anticipate this policy changing again prior to the start of the convention this year, however we will continue to monitor the situation for the next two weeks as we approach the deadline for our mask threshold.
If you have any questions regarding this covid policy, please reach out to our registration customer service team and they will be able to assist you.
Thank you for your understanding.