KyoKyo

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The vaccines do not stop transmission, infection or sickness or provide long term protection. Like Attendee7000 said, if someone was vaccinated 2 1/2 years ago and that was it, they would still *technically* be allowed to go to a vaccine mandated event even though any vaccine-induced protection has long since worn off. What sort of protection is that even offering? What then would be the next step? Have Otakon mandate boosters? Then what timeframe do you use? Nekocon 2022 did this and mandated that people be vaccinated no longer than a week or so before the con. You would have some

With the COVID public health emergency ending in May, it seems like a moot point to mandate vaccines. The few places "mandating" masks aren't enforcing it and by this point if the 5th booster hasn't given any sort of meaningful immunity you have to wonder what the point is anymore. Hopefully Otakon drops the vaccine mandate but only time will tell.

Great thanks. I'll be sure to pass the word along.

Does Otakon have any information yet on their covid policies for 2023? According to the WEWCC website, they dropped vaccine mandates for indoor events in DC as of February 2022. I wanted to clarify the policies before I pre-registered. Additionally, I have a few friends that have pre-registered and were wondering if the convention will provide refunds for registration if their vaccination status (rather lack thereof) prevents them from attending.

At this point I would be surprised if Otakon suddenly dropped their vaccine requirement for 2023. Katsucon has already stated they are mandating vaccines for 2023and that con is 6 months away. I wonder how realistic such mandates are with the vaccines seemingly becoming less and less effective. Right now a friend of mine and my dad, both vaccinated, are sitting at home with covid and a high fever.

I'm more curious if these vaccine policies are going to exist for years to come or in perpetuity. At this point, covid is endemic and will be with us for a long time. With most places having returned to "normal" months ago, I wonder if Otakorp is going to require vaccines for Otakon 2035? Look at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. They were mandating vaccines and then suddenly did an about face after a few weeks after the decision and no longer require them. Anime conventions seem to be the outliers.

Not entirely. They recommended that people be vaccinated but didn't require proof nor state that you had to be.

Thanks for trying to keep everyone safe. The staffers I encountered were professional and reasonable and from what I saw, the mask enforcement was applied consistently

Thank you for addressing this specific issue. It appears that Nekocon is going to try this very approach this year, going so far as to issue a no sleeping/lounging in common areas in the convention center order as well as reduced capacity/social distancing in all events according to their FB page. Conventions and convention centers by their very nature are not designed to be socially distanced and spread out and if you decide to do that it can create additional logistical headaches as you mentioned. The HRCC isn't very big and I'm curious to see if they will have line problems with peopl

The History of Metroid (I forgot the actual name) This was a great panel and the host was really knowledgeable. I had no idea there was so much additional manga and media related to the Metroid series until I attended. Hope he comes back next year. The Kabuki panel and demonstration I've always been curious about the history and purpose of kabuki and the Professor did an awesome job both explaining the history and performing some basic kabuki for us. The schedule said it was supposed to go for 2 hours but ended earlier than expected which was a shame. I would've loved to see mor

It was strange to see homeless camps and boarded up restaurants amongst $500,000 mini condos and people driving around in Porsches. We walked to the Irish pub we've frequented in the past only to find it boarded up. On the way to the Irish Channel pub we were probably asked about 6 or 7 times for money or food from the local homeless. Between that and the rising homicide rate, it's sad to see the nation's capital in such a strange state.

Ok, you knew the risks of attending a non-vaccine mandated event but assumed below-normal attendance because of covid hesitancy and decided to go banking on lower numbers. That's all on you. Of course I'm concerned for Otakon's reputation but there's a ton of other things that could also be labelled as "super spreaders." Sturgis, Lollapalooza, Awesome-Con (as of right now.) Even AnimeNYC and Station Unity with their recently updated vaccine mandate. It's going to happen with large indoor venues and people need to understand the risks.

If you were that anxious then you should have known the risks before you arrived.

Good: The Otakon staff for putting all of this together in just a few months The attendees and masks- I didn't see any instances of attendees abusing the mask policy. People self-regulated, were considerate and respected the mask policy. The Japanese Cultural Embassy. I'm THRILLED Otakon brought them in especially since Katsucon gutted them from their con budget in 2020. The kabuki panel and demonstration was especially interesting and Capitol Area Budokai is always a welcomed guest. The staffer in access control who works the line up in Main Events. He has long hair an