From sellout crowds at Madison Square Garden, to Lincoln Center, City Center, The Apollo Theater, Broadway and more, the live entertainment industry is at a near standstill.

Matt Loeb, the President of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, normally has more than 25,000 members employed behind the scenes in the entertainment industry in New York. He says widespread vaccinations is the key to get them back to work.

"The fact is in order to really be successful for these venues, they have to fill seats and they have to sell tickets so there's that issue and then of course the dynamic of sitting in a seat three seats away from another person really changes the nature of the performance and experience itself," said Loeb.

Loeb added his team has followed the science to create safety protocols and support vaccinations.

"I have hired three epidemiologists. We follow their guidance and they fully support everyone being vaccinated except for legal exceptions for devout religious reasons or medical reasons that some people can't take it and that's the path we're taking forward," said Loeb.

Comedian Lewis Black has gotten the first vaccine dose and says widespread vaccinations are key both for the economics of the entertainment business, but also the artistry that cannot survive small socially distanced audiences.

"There’s a critical mass you need in your audience to achieve laughter, or if you’re in the theater to lift the the performers to a certain level. And in a room filled with people wearing masks in a comedy club it’s like blub blub blub," he said as if laughing into a mask.

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried has done some funny stuff during the pandemic, a lot of it on his phone with his kids. Gottfried has gotten the first round of the COVID-19 vaccine and is scheduled for his second. He looks forward to the day it’s safe to hit the clubs.

"Sometimes I’ll think about doing my act and I’ll go, 'do I even remember it?'" he laughed.

Often we say an ailing industry needs a shot in the arm, in this case it’s literal.