Ticketmaster, a US ticket sales company that operates internationally, has considered making a coronavirus vaccination a condition for serving some of its customers.
According to reports citing a Billboard exclusive, Ticketmaster is considering introducing this obligation for concert-goers.
That is, of course, once concerts are again allowed – and if inoculation against the disease becomes available and approved. According to recent announcements, several big pharma companies are rushing a coronavirus vaccine to market, which would allegedly provide temporary immunity and whose distribution could start as early as late 2020.
Otherwise, Ticketmaster is considering plans to ask customers to provide proof, using their phones, that they had tested negative in the previous 24 to 72 hours.
Collection of personal data, especially that as sensitive as medical records, is naturally a controversial topic.
In a statement to Reclaim The Net, a Ticketmaster spokesperson said: “Ticketmaster does not have the power to set policies around safety/entry requirements, which would include vaccines and/or testing protocols. That is up to the discretion of the event organizer. Ticketmaster continues to work with event organizers on all Covid safety measures and it will be up to each event organizer to set future requirements, based on their preferences and local health guidelines.”
The plan is not final yet, but what’s known is that Ticketmaster will use its ticketing app, hire health information companies like Clear – that pivoted from specializing in airport security checks, and whom The Verge last month said “plans to infiltrate every part of daily life” – along with what’s described as “testing/vaccination distributors,” Labcorp and CVS Minute Clinic being among them.
Customers would have to tell the lab where they got tested to let these third-party companies verify their health status and then let Ticketmaster know.
According to Billboard, under these proposals those who nest negative or refuse to provide proof required of them will be banned from venues.
Both the health/security identification industry, that is already seeing a boom as many companies turn to serving the “coronavirus market,” and those who are looking for ways to get back in the game when and if the devastating lockdowns end, are hopeful about the future.
Thus Ticketmaster’s Global President Mark Yovich predicts massive growth of digital screening services once people start receiving the vaccine.
“We’re already seeing many third-party health care providers prepare to handle the vetting,” he told Billboard.
The fact that companies like Clear, with its Health Pass, add a person’s health information to their principal verification service, without being able to properly guarantee safety of that comprehensive biometric data, doesn’t seem to be a problem. At least not for Ticketmaster.
