LAS VEGAS—The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has decided that all attendees of the CES 2022 convention in January must be vaccinated.
In a blog post announcing the decision, Gary Shapiro, president/CEO of the CTA also said that the organizers plan to announce more protocols to keep attendees safe from the ongoing spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and that they are considering “proof of a positive antibody test as a requirement.”
Shapiro noted that the decision to cancel the show in 2020 as a live in-person event was a painful one that forced the CTA to lay off employees and hurt the Las Vegas economy but was necessary because vaccines were not available.
Today vaccines are available but “as vaccines are making their way around the world, so is a new threat – the Delta variant,” he wrote.
In response to that, “we will require all attendees to be fully vaccinated,” he wrote. “We are also assessing proof of a positive antibody test as a requirement and will share more details on this later. Importantly, we will continue to follow state and local guidelines and recommendations by the CDC and will announce additional protocols as we get closer to the show.”
“We all play a role in stopping the spread – requiring proof of vaccination for CES 2022 is one way we can take responsibility on our part,” noted Shapiro.
He added later in the blog that “we know our decision to require vaccines—and potentially positive antibody tests—may not be popular for some, but for many others it will allow them to know they can experience CES once again—and get back to business as usual.”
