The State of California announced March 18 that COVID-19 guidelines for indoor mega-events will be relaxed effective April 1, and attendees will no longer be required to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test prior to admission.

The announcement comes less than 90 days prior to the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting held at the Anaheim Convention Center June 12-15.

“The relaxation of the COVID-19 requirements for the SBC annual meeting eliminates what could have been a barrier for many messengers interested in joining us in Anaheim this summer,” said SBC Executive Committee Vice President Jonathan Howe. “While we are thankful there are no COVID-19 mandates currently in place for messengers, we recommend all who plan to attend to exercise caution and responsibility when it comes to health-related matters.”

Previous guidelines for mega-events, those with more than 1,000 in attendance, required all attendees to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or proof of a negative test taken within 48 hours. Under the new guidelines, those requirements are recommended, not required. While the guidelines could still change between April 1 and the event in June, the SBC Executive Committee currently does not plan to enforce those recommendations at the meeting.

Messenger pre-registration for the 2022 SBC annual meeting opened Feb. 1 at sbcannualmeeting.net, and will remain open until the event June 14-15.