Sundance Film Festival to offer COVID booster shots to attendees

Sundance Film Festival has confirmed it will be going ahead as an in-person event at the end of January 2022, and will be offering COVID booster shots to all eligible attendees.

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The decision to offer the booster shots at the event in Park City, Utah comes after it was previously announced that all attendees will be required to show proof of three vaccination shots before entry.

“As part of our health safety, we are working to make booster shots available to those in need who would be eligible for one,” a Sundance spokesperson told TheWrap. Current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines state that individuals must have received their second COVID vaccination at least six months prior to a booster shot.

📢 In-Person Health Safety Protocols: In addition to requiring vaccinations and mask wearing to maximize safety, today we’re sharing added measures—including a booster requirement for all eligible—and details on vax verification and testing hub locations.

— SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) December 23, 2021

Sundance will also require on-site staff to get tested upon checking in to the event, and all will be encouraged to repeat the test every 48 hours while creatives, press and industry must also show proof of a negative test. Additional testing is also required for attendance to a host of private events. Food and drink has also been banned from all screenings and masks must be worn throughout the festival.

Sundance 2022 will run January 20 to 30 as a hybrid in-person and virtual event. The 2021 event was an entirely virtual affair which received a record number of attendees as over 600,000 people logged on from across the world.

Netflix‘s Kanye West documentary Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy will premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2022 alongside Kathryn Ferguson’s Nothing Compares, which uses archival footage and exclusive interviews to explore Sinéad O’Connor‘s life and career between 1987 and 1993.

The additional measures for Sundance 2022 come as the annual Palm Springs Film Festival was cancelled for the second year in a row yesterday (December 29). The event was scheduled to run from January 7.

Organisers said: “Based on the current rise of COVID cases, the Palm Springs International Film Society has announced that the Film Festival will not take place this year. After thoughtful consideration, the Film Society feels this is the most responsible decision to ensure the safety of our patrons, filmmakers, and staff.”

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