FOREIGNER To Host Pop-Up COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic At Nashville Concert

FOREIGNER singer Kelly Hansen is featured in a new video as part of the Ad Council's vaccine education program, "It's Up To You", in which he discusses the pandemic with the chair of Nashville's COVID task force, Dr. Alex Jahangir.

In the clip, Hansen, whose band is scheduled to perform at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday night, says: "I feel that there are a lot of unaddressed concerns from a lot of the public around vaccinations. I understand and believe that it's everyone's individual choice whether to get vaccinated or not, but I think that if you are aware of and believe and agree with the information that you hear today that you would wanna be vaccinated."

He later adds: "We love our fans. We want everybody to be safe. We are trying to closely follow all protocols at all of our shows.

"We wanna let people know if they wanna get vaccinated, they can get vaccinated at our Nashville show. That's a choice for them, and it's completely up to them."

In a separate statement, FOREIGNER said: "FOREIGNER is proud to be part of the Ad Council & COVID Collaborative's Vaccine Education Initiative, 'It's Up To You'. As a band, we want to continue bringing our music live to all our friends and fans across the country, but we want to do it safely. We really care about our audiences, and everyone should do all they can to get the right information about all the available COVID-19 vaccines. Let's all stay healthy! Hope to see you rockin' down the road!"

On Friday (August 13),Live Nation Entertainment, one of the country's largest concert and ticketing companies, announced that it will require all artists and concertgoers to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test starting in early October.

Live Nation's announcement came one day after AEG Presents said that it will be requiring proof of vaccination for entry into its owned and operated clubs, theaters and festivals. The decision was made on the heels of the dramatic surge in COVID-19 cases as the delta variant spreads throughout the United States.

Several hard rock and heavy metal artists have canceled shows or whole tours as the concert industry is rethinking its approach to live shows while the delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading nationwide.

A number of venues around the country have already instituted policies requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to attend shows.

New variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 illness are spreading in the United States and other countries. Current data suggest that COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States offer protection against most variants. However, some variants might cause illness in some people after they are fully vaccinated.

According to Healthline, data so far suggests efficacy rates against the delta variant of more than 67 percent for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 72 to 95 percent for the Moderna vaccine, and 64 to 96 percent for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Even though vaccines offer different ranges of protection, experts say getting fully vaccinated is crucial.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said earlier in the month that while vaccinated people can carry and spread the virus in what is known as "breakthrough infections," people largely driving the current surge were unvaccinated.

As the virus spreads, it can mutate and create more dangerous variants. Consequently, "there could be a variant that's lingering out there that can push aside delta," Fauci said.