Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis is shown before a news conference at Allegiant Stadium Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. Davis and other officials responded to questions about the Raiders new policy on vaccination requirements for fans at home games.
Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021 | 2 a.m.
The new requirement for attending college, getting into a large-scale entertainment venue or sporting event, and for some industries obtaining a job, is increasingly becoming dependent upon being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Las Vegas Raiders games at Allegiant Stadium could provide a blueprint for how events will function in the immediate future. The team’s rule is succinct: no vaccination, no entry. The policy kicks off Sept. 13 during the NFL team’s home opener.
Hours after Nevada unveiled a directive that will allow event coordinators to bypass the state’s masking requirement by requiring COVID-19 vaccinations, the team announced it had contracted with tech company Clear for use of its Health Pass app to verify vaccination status.
The directive applies for fixed-capacity venues with more than 4,000 attendees. Those who are fully vaccinated could go maskless, while the partially vaccinated could enter with face coverings. Gov. Steve Sisolak envisioned vaccination stations at the venues to encourage people to get the jab.
The Raiders, for example, will have booths operated by Community Ambulance, the team said.
“The directive and guidance leave flexibility for vaccine verification to event and venue operators,” the governor’s office wrote in an email.
Clear’s digital Health Pass is fairly user-friendly: After downloading the app, just register with an email address and cellphone number, scan a state-issued ID or passport, and upload pictures of your face and your CDC vaccination card.
The health pass, which is a QR code, expires after 12 to 24 hours. To access it again, the app verifies the user by taking a photo, matching it using facial recognition technology. The user must also answer a short health-screening questionnaire.
The Raiders, the first NFL team to require COVID-19 vaccinations, are one of a few professional sports organizations to use Clear. The Las Vegas Aces, a WNBA franchise also owned by Raiders owner Mark Davis, is another. The upcoming Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles convention on the Strip was the only other Southern Nevada event using the app as of this week.
Davis said mask mandates at the previous four Allegiant Stadium events, including the Gold Cup soccer final, were nearly impossible to enforce, and the venue had already lost two sold-out events due to the mandate.
Whether they implement Nevada’s no mask option, other event organizers also have implemented vaccine requirements, although it wasn’t clear what verification methods they would use.
This week, after Nevada’s directive, the Consumer Technology Association’s CES Show, and the National Association of Broadcasters’ NAB Show announced their conventions also would require vaccination for entry. A CES spokesperson said organizers would announce their protocols at a later date, and NAB didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Prior Nevada's directive, the Life is Beautiful music festival in downtown Las Vegas said attendees must show proof of vaccine or a negative COVID-19 test to enter.
Concert promoters and venue operators AEG and Live Nation also had implemented similar policies. Neither responded to a request for comment.
Questions remain as to how organizers will verify vaccine statuses, and what methods are in place to spot the use of fraudulent CDC cards, which is a federal crime.
Clear’s chief security officer, Jerome Pickett, said during a press conference with the Raiders that the image-recognition technology the application employs could spot fakes, but didn’t expound on what that technology is. Pickett previously worked with the NBA and was instrumental in implementing the league’s successful players’ bubble, under which the 2020 season was played.
Seemingly, the threat of being caught using one might serve as a deterrent.
The Health Pass maintains the right to validate and store users’ vaccination information, and the application warns users that “federal law prohibits the use of counterfeit or fraudulent CDC cards.”
It wasn’t clear if the company has an active partnership with authorities, though its terms and conditions say the company reserves the right to share the users’ information in a law enforcement investigation.
This week, a Chicago pharmacist was jailed on 11 federal counts for allegedly selling 125 such cards to about a dozen customers on Ebay. If convicted, the suspect faces dozens of years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.
“We take seriously, and will vigorously investigate, any criminal offense that contributes to the distrust around vaccines and vaccination status,” a federal prosecutor wrote in a statement. The DOJ “and its law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the American people from these offenses during this national emergency.”
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office sent a notice this week reminding Nevadans that buying, manufacturing or using fraudulent cards is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. “Using deceptive cards threatens Nevada’s health progress and violates state and federal law,” Ford’s office said in a statement.
The FBI office in Las Vegas said it was checking on possible fraudulent CDC card cases in Southern Nevada, and what collaboration, if any, the agency has with venue operators, but didn’t immediately get back with a comment.
For officials, particularly during the pandemic, catching criminals goes beyond holding them accountable.
“Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the most important thing you can do individually to help stop the pandemic,” Ford said in the statement. “When you make or use an illegal vaccine card, you are not only endangering yourself, but the lives of every Nevadan you encounter.”
