FEATURE:
Back to Life
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Making the Most of Our Empty Venues and Those in the Live Music Sector to Ensure We Can Vaccinate More People
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AS of the time of writing this feature (9th January)…
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there has not been approval to use road crews, those in the music industry and empty venues to administer COVID-19 vaccines. It seems odd that there are so many various-sized venues being unused that can be utilised to administer jabs. With a third vaccine arriving in the U.K. in the spring, I think there will be increased interest from the live music sector when it comes to helping in the vaccination effort. This article from The Telegraph explains more:
“Could it be ravers to the rescue? With their experience of marshalling thousands of loved-up revellers in vast venues, music-industry leaders have urged the Government to let them help with the vaccine drive.
“This is not Brain of Britain stuff. It’s bloody obvious,” says John Giddings, organiser of the Isle of Wight festival. “[We] need to do something to accelerate this process.”
Giddings recently became frustrated by the pace of the inoculation roll-out, and thought someone needed to crack the whip. On January 5, he took up the mantle himself and tweeted a novel solution: expand vaccination centres to include music and festival sites, and let the thousands of roadies, security teams and bar staff standing idle help to organise the push.
The Government has announced plans to get more than 13 million of the most vulnerable people vaccinated by mid-February. They have also confirmed they will use seven locations – including the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel complex in London’s Docklands, Epsom Racecourse in Surrey and the Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol – to host pop-up vaccination centres.
IN THIS PHOTO: John Giddings
How they will marshal the delivery of the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines by that deadline, though, is under heavy scrutiny.
The Army is involved in discussions about the logistics. But, Giddings argues, they don’t have on-the-ground knowledge of the locations involved. “We know all these venues inside-out. The Army would steam in and ask a load of questions that don’t need to be asked.”
In his opinion, the Forces may also lack the soft touch necessary to shepherd vulnerable citizens through what could be a frightening and confusing experience. Meanwhile, he says, “tens of thousands” of music-venue staff have mostly been at loss since last March.
“There are thousands of people employed in the music business who are skilled, capable at running venues and crowd control. You name it, they can do it.
“At the Isle of Wight Festival we employ 500 people, so multiply that by all the festivals in the UK.”
James Lindsay, 62, chief of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, agrees. “The hospitality industry over the last 43 weeks has been targeted by the Government. And the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, an iconic London landmark and a major contributor to the night-time economy, has been deeply affected by the decisions.”
But won’t the public be more comforted by stiff-backed soldiers than long-haired roadies at vaccination centres? Giddings doesn’t think so.
“We’re not 9-5ers. We’d work on shifts 24 hours a day to expand it. Trucks leave our sites at all hours. If someone said to me: ‘Turn up at Hammersmith Apollo at two in the morning and you’ll get a vaccine,’ I’d be running there now”.
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There are concerns that the vaccine is not being deployed speedily enough and that there are pharmacies not been exploited. Venues will not be able to open properly until things are greatly improved and, at such a critical time, it seems like a no-brainer that they should be opened so that those trained to provide jabs can do so at an accelerated rate. Think about the stadiums and venues that are dormant that have capacity to safely house a lot of people; be turned into vaccination centres. One of hopes for 2021 is that live music can return and that venues will be able to open their doors. Let’s hope that the offer of support from the music industry helps the Government to realise the value of venues and live music – and that they pledge more money to ensure we lose as few venues and people in the industry as possible. As soon as the effort is ramped up to get more and more vaccines delivered, there will be plenty of willing venues across the country that can open their doors - in addition to festival sites that can provide accommodation. Given all the crews and vehicles that are also being unused…they can help transport vaccines and provide useful support. I know the army are being drafted in to help with the vaccine rollouts, but there is this horde of people in the music industry that have the time and energy to help in the national effort. Let’s hope that the Government respond to the offer from those in music in terms of offering space and time. As there is a plea to have more vaccines delivered to more people, let’s hope that we can put those wheels in motion so that society and live music can return…
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AS soon as possible.