The Radiological Society of North American will require masks and vaccination against COVID-19 to attend its conference in Chicago later this year, leaders announced Thursday afternoon.
RSNA said all in-person attendees and exhibitors must show proof of vaccine before entering its 107th scientific assembly, set to kick off Nov. 28 at McCormick Place on the shores of Lake Michigan. For those who cannot comply, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based professional society said it’s offering a “robust” virtual component for its popular annual meeting.
“With a mission that focuses on health and patient care, RSNA is strongly committed to protecting the health and safety of all meeting attendees, and—by extension—their families, colleagues, friends and the global community,” RSNA President Mary Mahoney, MD, said in a statement issued Aug. 12. “As the convener of the world’s leading medical imaging forum, we want to provide the safest possible meeting environment for all our participants.”
RSNA said it plans to follow all CDC, state and local recommendations on social distancing, based on the pandemic’s state of affairs in November. Additional details, including how to verify proof of inoculation, will be revealed in the coming weeks, organizers said.
The society was forced to shelve the world’s largest medical imaging conference in 2020 due to COVID-19’s proliferation, moving all activities to the web. It marked the first cancellation of RSNA’s in-person conference since World War 2.
This is a developing story. Radiology Business will have further details.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.