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PAX West will require attendees to show proof of negative COVID-19 test results or vaccination

PAX West will now require either a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination for admission.

July 27, 2021 7:50 AM

PAX West is set to be one of the first major in-poerson gaming conventions to return when it goes down this September in Seattle, Washington. Though there are significantly less cases of COVID-19 than there were when the event got canceled last year, many were concerned about this year’s event, as organizer ReedPop was not requiring users to be vaccinated in order to attend the event. Now, the organizer is changing course, as it’s been announced that PAX West will now require attendees to either prove that they’re vaccinated, or show negative results for a COVID-19 test.

ReedPop announced the changes to the health and safety protocols for PAX West on July 27, 2021 with a new statement posted on its official website. The full statement from ReedPop can be found below.

ReedPop received a lot of backlash when it said that it wouldn’t require PAX West attendees to be vaccinated. While unvaccinated guests will still be admitted, the negative COVID-19 test results requirement should help quell a lot of concerns. If you are vaccinated, we hope you’ve held onto that handy vaccine card.

PAX West is still set to take place from September 3-6 in Seattle, Washington. Attendees will either need to show proof of vaccination, or show negative test results for COVID-19. For more on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the video game industry, stick with us here on Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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July 27, 2021 7:50 AM

Donovan Erskine posted a new article, PAX West will require attendees to show proof of negative COVID-19 test results or vaccination
- daggot
  
   reply
  July 27, 2021 8:09 AM
  
  Negative test results? Whoa.
  - daggot
    
     reply
    July 27, 2021 8:13 AM
    
    What I meant to say really is that this is probably a bad idea to go with negative tests. Unless they can do some kind of rapid testing there on-site like how I've seen airports do for international flights (well, seen on youtube travel video), I don't think that's really effective. Or, more to the point, people will just generate a fake result document because people suck.
    
    On-site testing would be best. And, yes, it would be more expensive for the event organizer. Clearly just being vaccinated isn't quite proving to be enough protection, so maybe live event organizers in general need to start planning to add on-site testing for the next year.
    - Pharaoh721
      
       reply
      July 27, 2021 8:57 AM
      
      Agreed, on-site testing would be much better. I am still undecided on if I'll go or not. You also bring up a good point about people just making fake negative result documents.
      - daggot
        
         reply
        July 27, 2021 9:00 AM
        
        For any given system, always assume someone wants to find a way to game the system just because "it's there" and they have to prove themselves against any system.