Mask relief is here, but there are key exceptions
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's easing of mask restrictions for fully vaccinated people Thursday is encouraging, but COVID-19 vaccination efforts in Butler County must continue, said a Butler Health System official.
The CDC stated that fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and at most indoor settings. CDC guidelines still call for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings such as buses, planes, hospitals and prisons, but will help clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools and other venues.
“I think it is a truly exciting step forward,” said Dr. Michael Fiorina, vice president of medical education at Butler Health Systems.
“That's encouraging to see that the vaccine has improved the amount of disease and deaths we are seeing,” he said, noting there are eight COVID-19 patients in Butler Memorial Hospital and one death attributed to COVID-19 in the past week.
“However, we need to keep in mind in a health care setting — a hospital, a nursing home, a doctor's office — masks are still mandated,” said Fiorina.
Fiorina cautioned that going maskless is only recommended for groups of people who are all fully vaccinated. In the presence of unvaccinated people, masks are still encouraged.
The number of vaccinations in the county is slowing, and Butler Health System is planning on reducing the days and hours of its vaccination clinic in the Clearview Mall.
Fiorina said of the county's approximately 180,000 residents, 74,396 have been fully vaccinated and 15,204 have been partially vaccinated.“That's about half the county,” said Fiorina. “If we want to continue to progress in loosening the rest of the restrictions, we need to get more people vaccinated.”However, vaccination rates in the county seem to be slowing.“Demand for the vaccine is down. It doesn't make sense to keep pharmacists and nurses for 12 hours a day,” he said explaining the plan to reduce hours and days beginning June 1 for the Clearview Mall clinic.Starting June 1 and going forward, the vaccine clinic will only be open for appointments and walk-ins from 8 a.m. to noon Mondays, 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to noon Fridays.Fiorina said people seem reluctant to get vaccinated because they don't trust the vaccine, think the vaccine is too new or for political reasons.For the entire state, Fiorina said 4,091,982 are fully vaccinated and 1,689,579 are partially vaccinated, about 46% of the state.State Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam said Thursday, “Today's guidance from the CDC affects only people who are fully vaccinated.”“This is another incentive to get the vaccine that is now easily and conveniently available. Once 70% of Pennsylvanians over 18 are fully vaccinated, we can completely lift the masking order,” said Beam.According to the Associated Press, to date more than 154 million Americans, nearly 47% of the population, have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 119 million are fully vaccinated. The rate of new vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks, but with the authorization Wednesday of the Pfizer shot for children ages 12 to 15, a new burst of doses is expected in the coming days.
