HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP / KDKA) – Pennsylvania has eased its mask mandate to enable people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to meet with other vaccines without masks or social distance, state health officials said Monday.
The new rules also apply to vaccines that are collected in people from one household who have not been vaccinated, but who consider the low risk of serious diseases due to the coronavirus – such as vaccinated grandparents who visit healthy grandchildren.
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Today @pahealthsec amended the existing Universal Face Coverings Order, issued on 17 November 2020, to conform to the @CDCgov Recommendations for people who have been fully vaccinated. The amended order came into force on 17 March 2021 at 12:01 hours until further notice. pic.twitter.com/e6N7XboWzh
– Department of Health of PA (@PAHealthDept) 22 March 2021
Vaccines also no longer need to be quarantined after exposure to someone with COVID-19, as long as they do not develop symptoms, state health officials said.
Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam has revised the state’s existing masking order to conform to recent guidance from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Every time behavioral changes align with the CDC, individual state governments and even the province, it makes people easier to follow,” said Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC, said.
The state said vaccinated people should continue to wear masks and social distance in public, and when visited by people in multiple households or by those at higher risk for serious illnesses due to COVID-19.
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All other aspects of the current masking order of the state remain in force.
Kaydee O’Brian, who says she’s immune, says the new guidelines are good, but how do you know if the person has really been vaccinated?
‘I wear it all the time, even if the other person has the shots. “Yes, I’m careful about that,” said O’Brian.
Dr. Yealy says if we are not careful, the light at the end of the tunnel could be the headlamp of another COVID-19 surge.
“If we are not careful, we are again starting to see an increase in cases and an increase in people who need hospitalization and who may even die from COVID-19,” he says.
Pennsylvania sharpened its mask mandate in November in response to an increase in coronavirus cases. The state needed masks indoors where people from different households gather, including in private homes, although officials relied on voluntary compliance rather than enforcement.
Pennsylvania saw a sharp decline in cases, hospitalizations and deaths after a winter peak, but the cases increased again – from about 2,500 a day two weeks ago to 2,900 a day this weekend. The decline in hospitalizations has come to a halt, government officials said.
The state is approaching 1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and nearly 24,800 deaths are attributed to COVID-19.
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