New York City mayor announces Broadway reopening plan, including vaccinations

"It's time to raise the curtain and bring Broadway back."

UPDATE: New York City is set to fully reopen from July 1, with a Broadway reopening in fall 2021. For more information, read here.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a Coronavirus vaccination site will open, dedicated to theater industry workers on Broadway. In doing so, the Mayor has stated his desire to reopen all Broadway shows by the fall, in line with many reopening dates already slated across the city.

Reported in the New York Times, Mr de Blasio said about future plans for new vaccination sites, that it will be "a year to turn things around... It's time to raise the curtain and bring Broadway back.

The Broadway vaccination site will be used to serve theater workers across the city, staffed by up to 100 theater workers who have been unemployed during the pandemic. The vaccine pop-up site will open at the former NFL Experience. Theater industry workers will handle administrative support tasks while clinical nurses deliver the vaccine, aiming to deliver 1,500 doses daily.

In a news conference, Mayor de Blasio was joined by Hadestown's Andre De Shields, who said: "We're ready, we've stayed in shape, our voices are strong... All we need is a stage."

Shields was supported by Aladdin's Telly Leung, who said "We all have a long way to go as a community, but I really do think that today is a really good first step in our healing."

As well as the main Broadway site, additional testing stations will open in the theater district to be prepared for theaters reopening. As of April 7, the COVID-19 vaccine is now available to all New York residents 16 and older. 

This news comes not long after Governor Andrew Cuomo stated that theaters can reopen with smaller capacity. Shows opening in April include Blindness at Daryl Roth Theatre and performances at the Music Box Theatre. Some Broadway shows have already confirmed their return, including Company starring Patti LuPone and new shows like Thoughts of a Colored Man.

^{Article Updated: 7 April 2021}