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Will Hollywood Force All Workers to Get the COVID Vaccine?

Photo by Hakan Nural on Unsplash

Will Hollywood Force All Workers to Get the COVID Vaccine?

By Movieguide® Staff

It can take thousands of people to make a movie. From actors working in close quarters to directors, producers, engineers, visual effects artists, sound mixers, costume designers, and the like, creating content for Hollywood takes a crowd — something COVID-19 restrictions prohibited for the last year.

With the vaccine now making the rounds, some people in Hollywood are now questioning if it will be a requirement to return to set.

“We’re not going to take a position on whether we mandate or not. I think people are pretty enthusiastic about getting back to normal life, and so we’ll play it by ear and see how the adoption of the vaccines goes,” Netflix co-CEO co-CEO Ted Sarandos says.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

When members of a production do get vaccinated, they aren’t yet afforded any special treatment on set. “Just because you’ve been vaccinated doesn’t mean you can jump the protocols,” says one COVID-19 department head. Such individuals still have to test negative before coming to set, wear a mask and social distance as they would before.

That said, the idea of “vaccine passports” has begun to generate chatter among insiders, even as the details of such a system have yet to be worked out. (For example, would someone who has recovered from COVID-19 and may have antibodies but hasn’t received a vaccine qualify for a “passport”?)

And how will anti-vaccine sentiment be handled? The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration weighed in back in November 2009 amid an H1N1 pandemic, when an Ohio congresswoman passed along a constituent’s question about whether her company could force her to take time off if she refused a flu shot. The agency replied that while OSHA “does not specifically require employees to take the vaccines, an employer may do so.”

Yet multiple industries, including the entertainment sector, are considering vaccine passports as they weigh how to move forward in business operations.

The Wall Street Journal reported on March 16 that these passports are cropping up as apps meant to be used during flight travel:

Requirements to prove a vaccinated status or a negative Covid-19 test to enter countries including the Seychelles and Cyprus can lead to longer lines and delays, as airport staff manually verify passengers’ health paperwork. Digital health passes won’t be mandatory for airline passengers, Mr. Murray Hayden said, but their gradual uptake will provide a sort of “herd immunity for queuing” at the airport.

“If we can move 70% of the customers away from checking agents, the checking agents can concentrate on helping those people who don’t have phones, or who aren’t used to the technology,” he said.

Ticketmaster even suggested a vaccine passport last fall for admission into its concerts, and movie theaters are reportedly considering requiring vaccine documentation in a push to reopen faster.

“It seems to me that the COVID passports are going to become part of our everyday life at some point,” says Tricia Legittino, co-chair of Frankfurt Kurnit’s litigation and employment groups. “If you want to get on an airplane, you’re probably going to have to have one. If you want to go to a movie, you’re probably going to have to have one.”

Despite this talk, some Hollywood insiders insist that there will not be mandatory vaccinations.

“We’ve at least set a minimum,” says one. “Any vaccinating on top of that is icing on the cake in terms of improving the safety of that workplace.”

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.