THE ROPECRAFT CHICAGO COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY

Covid-19 continues to be a health consideration for our world and community.

In August 2024, Congress voted to end funding for the Bridge Access program which previously provided free Covid-19 vaccines to all US Citizens and in August 2025, the Food and Drug Administration limited eligibility and access for the Covid-19 shots to adults 65 and older or those who are “high risk” for severe disease.

Recent government-initiated changes in eligibility criteria for the 2025-2026 season Covid-19 vaccine mean that our past vaccination requirement is not feasible for our 2026 event.

Because of that, we are shifting our policy this year to recommending Covid-19 vaccination at least two weeks before the event for anyone eligible to get the vaccine, especially vulnerable populations at risk of serious complications from Covid-19 infection. The full list of eligibility criteria is still being developed and may change as we get closer to the event. We suggest that if you are currently eligible to be vaccinated, that you do so for your own benefit as well as the benefit of those around you.

  • At the event, masking is recommended for anyone at risk of serious complications from COVID-19 infection as well as anyone who is concerned about contracting Covid-19 for any other reason.
  • We also recommend that everyone attending our event test for Covid-19 daily starting before traveling and continuing every day until the conclusion of our event.

Anyone who contracts Covid-19 7 days or less before the start of our event is asked to stay home and notify [email protected] before the start of the event. Tickets not used due to Covid-19 infection will be forwarded to next year’s event without penalty.

Being aware of your status is attractive and polite and we highly recommend it.

In addition to our vaccination requirement stated above, we also reserve the right to add additional health and safety measures for our event depending on City, State and United States public health recommendations for the time of our event. Folks should be prepared for the possibility of required masking, pre-event Covid testing, health screenings and capacity limitations. Folks should also consider utilizing masking, pre-event Covid testing, health screenings and evaluating their crowd tolerance as part of their own risk profiles generally whether at our event or on an airplane or in a grocery store. Be risk-aware and polite to your fellow con-goers!

Any policy decision we make will exclude some folks

Requiring the Covid-19 vaccine for a large group event follows public health policy recommendations and is current best practice per the best science we have available at the moment. This is what we are planning to do at this time. 

  • Recommending the Covid-19 vaccine and other mitigation measures helps us be safer for ourselves and each other and our friends and loved ones that we return to after gathering. This list of folks including immunocompromised folks who do not have access to the protection that the vaccine provides, other high risk folks generally regardless of vaccination status, and children too young to be vaccinated.
  • Recommending only Covid-19 testing before the event would not address the possibility of contracting Covid-19 while traveling to the event and then spreading it at the event, a thing that is much more likely if a person is not vaccinated against Covid-19 and traveling without other mitigation measures like masking. This creates a false sense of safety.
  • Universal masking at the event would have drawbacks ranging from communication to accessibility to bluntly just the fun of playing and sharing facial expressions of joy with others. We are choosing to require vaccination instead of universal masking at this time. Risk profiles as personal! We support unconditionally anyone who would wish to wear a mask at our event for health or other reasons.

Please remember that if you are eligible, your vaccination protects not only you but also those around you. Likewise, please do not forget that lack of vaccination is a risk not only to an unvaccinated person but also a burden on our strained healthcare system.