COVID-19 Safety Policy
Updated September 2023
In response to ongoing developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PCO Board of Directors periodically reviews its policies to help us safeguard public health, ensure the best use of available resources, and provide clear guidance to musicians and audience members on how to mitigate the spread of the virus, protect vulnerable populations, and promote a safe and responsible return to normalcy.
For the past few seasons, PCO has required that all musicians and soloists be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to keep each other and our audiences safe. PCO still encourages vaccination, including booster doses to be optimally protected from as many variants of COVID-19 as possible. PCO also acknowledges that masking, regardless of vaccination status, has been shown to the most effective preventive measure, and so we encourage those who are most concerned to continue to wear a high-quality mask.
Fully vaccinated PCO Musicians are encouraged to share their vaccination status. With PCO by showing their CDC COVID-19 vaccination card to the Personnel Manager, either digitally, or in person before the first service of each season. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of a two-dose vaccine, or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine. PCO musicians who do not meet this definition of vaccination or who have declined to disclose their vaccination status will be required to provide evidence of a negative rapid test for COVID-19 no earlier than 24 hours before the first rehearsal of each concert cycle. Any information shared will be kept confidential.
PCO Musicians are expected to comply with any COVID policies that are enforced by any venue where PCO does business.
If the CDC updates the definition of “fully vaccinated” to include a bivalent booster dose, PCO will adopt this new definition, and musicians will have 30 days to receive a bivalent dose.
This updated policy is a result of a long discussion by the Board of Directors, including input from musicians, and attempts to strike a balance between keeping everyone safe and resuming some sense of normalcy, and acknowledging that even though the pandemic is significantly less lethal than it was, there are real risks that remain for real people. Any changes will be communicated to the orchestra members in a timely fashion via email.