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Walt Disney drops COVID-19 vaccination mandate from many TV shows as shutdown fears recede
By Anousha SakouiStaff Writer
Nov. 5, 2022 2:43 PM PT
Walt Disney told a string of its TV shows Friday that it will no longer require cast and crews to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as hospitalizations wane.
Productions, including the first-responder drama “9-1-1,” will no longer require workers in front of and behind the camera in the most high-risk areas of their sets to be vaccinated, said people with knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.
The use of vaccination mandates was agreed to by unions and producers as part of the so-called Return to Work agreement last year. About a dozen shows are affected and other protocols including masking and testing will remain in place, a person close to the matter said. Disney may still require vaccines for some productions.
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The union’s president, Fran Drescher, celebrated the decision on social media Saturday.
“We as a nation must be very careful that fear does not turn into fascism,” Drescher said in a video posted to Twitter on Saturday. “When cards must be presented to identify whether you are included or excluded, we stand at a tipping point of an America I no longer recognize. I must applaud Disney for taking the position not to vaccine mandate their sets any longer.”...