By Alex R. Thiersch, JD, CEO of the American Med Spa Association (AmSpa)

Hey folks! First, I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season and is staying healthy. These continue to be trying times, but I truly believe the new year will bring with it an end to the madness (or at least some sort of normalcy). Here's to 2022!

I wanted to take a quick moment to let everyone know that the Medical Spa Show 2022, scheduled for January 27 – 30 at Wynn Las Vegas, will be held as planned. Unless things change dramatically, we will be hosting a live, in-person conference for the medical spa industry.

This is not a decision that we take lightly, and we have been closely following all the developments and updates of the spread of COVID and the Omicron variant. While there is no doubt that the pandemic is not yet over, we strongly feel that a live meeting can be held safely with the safety measures and protocols available to us. Those measures, coupled with the availability of vaccines, boosters and testing, will allow us to attend the meeting and feel that we are gathering in a safe environment.

This will only work, however, if we all agree to act in accordance with the guidelines set by the CDC, state and local governments, and the safety measures put in place by our partners at the Wynn. The tools and strategies are out there to make this a safe event, but it only works if we all agree to stringently follow those strategies and use the available tools responsibly.

This means that everyone attending MSS will be required to wear a mask while indoors (and we strongly encourage the use of KN95 masks, which are widely available), and we urge everyone to get fully vaccinated and get their booster. The data is clear that the best way to stop the transmission of Omicron is through vaccination (with the booster). This is a crucial step, and we strongly encourage everyone to get their jabs.

Finally, we are asking everyone to take a test immediately prior to MSS to ensure they are negative when they arrive at the conference. Testing, vaccination and masking are the keys to making this a safe event. In the result of a positive COVID case, a credit can be issued to the registrant's AmSpa account to be used within one year of issuance.

We'll have more information in the coming days about safety measures implemented by AmSpa and the Wynn, but for now I wanted to ensure everyone knew that the meeting will be happening and we couldn't be more excited to see all our friends. Let's do this...safely!

Alex