Western Pa. venues weigh pros, cons of vaccinated-only spectator sections

Pittsburgh entertainment venues soon might join others across the country in separating fans into vaccinated sections — another trend in efforts to encourage mass vaccination against covid-19, while growing audiences back to pre-pandemic levels.

The Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday proposed the idea in a petition to the state. Fans in the vaccinated section of PPG Paints Arena still would have to wear masks, the Pens said, but social distancing would be relaxed. The measure would allow the team to sell more tickets for the arena, which has been operating at about 25% capacity.

After the Penguins’ proposal, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald applauded the proposal and encouraged other entertainment venues to follow suit. He said the county government is considering similar measures for its summer concert series beginning in June.

Pittsburgh-area venues would not be the first to implement special sections for the fully vaccinated. The Los Angeles Dodgers and other professional sports teams have adopted the measure at their respective venues.

Organizations, businesses and governments across the nation are finding new ways to incentivize the covid-19 vaccine. A county in Texas will hand out gift cards and bobbleheads. West Virginia is offering $100 savings bonds. Connecticut is partnering with local restaurants to offer a free drink to the vaccinated.

Some local leaders and health experts say vaccinated sections would further encourage people to get their shots, while increasing ticket sales and boosting the economy.

“I’ve had conversations as late as (Wednesday) with the Pittsburgh Pirates about the same idea,” Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said Thursday. “If we can create areas where everyone has to show that they have been vaccinated, they believe more people would want to attend the games. They believe that knowing that everyone around them is vaccinated and wearing a mask would actually draw people.”

Peduto noted that, when it comes to the specifics of health codes and regulations in public, the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County will ultimately enforce the decisions of state leaders.

“Our restaurants understand the same thing,” he said. “Vaccinations are good for business. Masks are good for business. And if we want to see the return to normal happen quicker, then we need to make sure that those types of options are being made available.”

A Pirates spokesman said the team has been considering a vaccinated section for PNC Park since “probably back to before the vaccine was even approved.” But there’s no saying, yet, whether the majority of event venues in Pittsburgh will follow the trend.

In a statement, Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten gave no indication whether the stadium would separate vaccinated and unvaccinated fans.

“We expect changes over the next few months to the CDC guidelines and will continue to monitor those as we get closer to the start of our season,” Lauten said.

Some Western Pennsylvania residents have expressed concern that separating individuals based on their vaccine status would amount to discrimination, given that receiving a covid vaccine is ultimately a personal choice.

“This just seems like it’s marginalizing people who, for legitimate reasons, are very nervous about getting the vaccine,” said Michael Quinn, 67, a retired social studies teacher who lives in Indiana Township.

Quinn said he’s received both shots of the covid vaccine and didn’t feel pressured to do so. And as a former teacher, he understands the concept of restricting access to certain areas based on vaccine status — it’s not so different from the way students may not come to school without up-to-date chicken pox and measles vaccinations.

But the idea of special sections for vaccinated people in event venues makes him uncomfortable. He wondered: Do vaccinated individuals get better seats? And what about people who remain unvaccinated for religious or medical concerns?

“There’s just something that bothers me about, ‘you can sit here, but you can’t. You can go here, but you can’t,’” he said. “It’s going to penalize people who are making an extremely difficult, private decision.”

Some health experts disagree, saying that, from the beginning, vaccination was meant to give individuals more freedom. And that the vaccine rollout has long been understood as the path “back to normal.”

“This is a good move,” said Pittsburgh-based Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Policy. “I think it really reflects the confidence we have in the vaccines and how vaccines are a path to reclaiming your life.”

Besides, he said, it is the virus that actually “discriminates” between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, infecting one group on a vastly larger scale.

“If you’re a vaccinated person, the virus is going to treat you differently,” he said.