SAEC NEWS
Widespread vaccination holds the key to breaking the cycle of lockdowns Two of the greatest passion points in the world are music and sport. There’s nothing that draws a crowd together like a sporting event, concert or festival. And it has become increasingly clear to me that the only path back to those events is through mass vaccination. By Justin van Wyk, chief executive officer of Big Concerts.
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e know that vaccines are contentious for some – there is a lot of misinformation out there about their efficacy and safety and there are fears that they haven’t been sufficiently tested. But all of the evidence suggests – and there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate this – that they are not only vital to saving millions of lives, but are the only hope that we have of achieving a postCovid-19 world. Without vaccines and mass vaccination, we may expect to go through cycle after cycle of our health system being overwhelmed by severely ill people, and thousands of lives lost, which means rolling lockdowns. Lockdowns have a devastating effect on our mental health, with increased depression and anxiety; on our physical
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health, with lack of access to routine health services and decline in physical activity, and also on the economy in terms of loss of livelihoods – which leads to increased inequality, extreme poverty, social unrest, increased crime and anti-social behaviour. The cultural and creative workers of South Africa have been hard hit by the pandemic. The sector employs about 1.2 million people, all of whom went from 100 per cent to no revenue whatsoever overnight. There was a complete and total ban on gatherings, which meant that no cultural or creative expression occurred, and there was no way for the industry to mitigate this. It wasn’t something we could plan for – it was an immediate shock. At first, artists responded by livestreaming, but it’s not a revenue
driver. It just allows fans to connect with their favourite artists and remain relevant. Ask any athlete or artist and they will tell you that the pinnacle of their career is to perform in front of people, to be cheered on. Playing in an empty stadium or performing to a camera is just not the same. At the time we thought it would be weeks, then it was months, and now we are into year two, and there has been no respite. The most people we have been able to accomodate in a venue is 500, and that barely covers the cost of the infrastructure needed to host a large event. Being deprived of cultural and sporting events has taken a massive toll on South Africa as a whole – and if you think they don’t matter, think about events like the Cricket World Cup, Rugby World Cup, www.businesseventsafrica.com
