WaPo cancels reception before WHCA dinner over COVID

• "As much as we would have loved to see everyone, in light of what appears to be an increase in COVID-19 transmission, we did not want to put our friends and colleagues at further risk," they wrote.

The big picture: The White House Correspondents’ Association is requiring guests to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of a same-day negative COVID test.

• The association is also encouraging guests to get a second booster shot if they are eligible as soon as this week for "maximum protection."
• The dinner — slated for April 30 — comes after several high-profile officials and lawmakers tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Gridiron Club dinner, a high-profile D.C. media event, earlier this month.

Worth noting: The Daily Beast also announced Tuesday that its annual pre-dinner cocktail party has been canceled and that the company will be making a donation to the Committee to Protect Journalists instead.

• Editor-in-Chief Tracy Connor told Axios the change wasn't COVID-related but rather planned after two of their freelancers were shot in Ukraine, weeks before the recent COVD surge in D.C.
• "[H]onoring journalists in harm’s way seemed like a better way, this year, to mark the occasion," she said.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include the Daily Beast's cancelation of its annual White House Correspondents' Dinner pre-dinner cocktail party.

Go deeper: Mini-COVID wave hits D.C. elite