San Diego Comic-Con 2022: Proof of Vaccine, Mandatory Masks Required

One of California’s largest and most well-known international events, the San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con), announced on Thursday that it would be bucking the trend of recent California events and return to both mask requirements and needing to be vaccinated or show proof of purchase.

Since starting in 1970, Comic-Con has not only been one of the largest comic book conventions in the world, but in recent decades it has turned into one of the largest pop culture events of the year with movie and TV show announcements, premieres, celebrity panels, and a whole host of other entertainment newsworthy events bringing attention from all over the world. Over 150,000 people attend each year with tens of millions more watching for announcements coming from the convention.

Comic-Con 2022 will be the first time the event will be back in full since 2019 following a 2020 cancellation and a 2021 convention being a vastly pared down event, both due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the convention center was used as both a homeless shelter to protect the homeless against COVID-19 and as a temporary migrant center to help lessen the migrant crisis at the border. However, much like other events across the state, Comic-Con was expected to return to normal this year.

Instead, organizers are treating it as if  COVID is still here in force.

According to Comic-Con organizers, everyone from attendees to exhibitors to the press to celebrities coming as guests will have to abide by the protocol. An approved face covering must be worn at all times, with everyone also either needing to show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the last 72 hours

“At all San Diego Comic Convention events, the health and safety of our stakeholders is our main priority, and because of this, we will continue to implement policies and protocols based on state/local health guidelines and public health recommendations as we prepare for Comic-Con on July 21-24, 2022,” said convention organizers on Thursday. “We are excited to gather again after such a long hiatus. But we want to be sure everyone who attends is as safe as possible.”

However, many in the convention industry noted that Comic-Con may actually be hurting itself by implementing COVID-era restrictions again.

“This is only going to scare people away at this point,” Clara, an industry event booker, explained to the Globe on Friday. “COVID is barely a blip anymore, but they are treating the event like it is back to the times where the rates were high and a lot of deaths came in every day.”

“Besides those not vaccinated, many people will be turned off by these restrictions. Many celebrities might not even attend because of it. Conventions that still have these restrictions, even larger events where they might be more understandable with so many people from around the world gathering in one place, have been turning off people left and right. And Comic-Con won’t be an exception. It’s still crazy this is happening today.”

Comic-Con is due to be held at the San Diego Convention Center from July 21-24.