When to mask up? Clarity on conflicting guidelines

The U.S., and Washington state in particular, are turning a corner in the fight against the Covid pandemic. But questions swirl about what this next chapter looks like.

When should we put on a mask? How many more people will get vaccinated? What exactly will it take to fully reopen the state?

To help us answer some of these questions, KUOW reporter Eilis O'Neil gave Paige Browning this update.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Paige Browning: We got new guidance from the CDC, and then a follow-up from Governor Jay Inslee. Just to clarify, when should people be wearing masks?

Eilis O’Neil: The CDC said that in most indoor and outdoor settings fully vaccinated people — those are people who got their second dose, or their single dose of Johnson & Johnson more than two weeks ago — no longer need to wear masks. There are exceptions to that, like public transit, and planes, and airports, and hospitals. And, any business or workplace can keep its own mask requirement in place. Of course, everyone still has to follow local laws, but after the CDC said that, Governor Inslee said Washington would follow the CDC guidelines effective immediately.

Has this been easy for people to follow so far?

It has led to a super-confusing patchwork. Some companies have said they're keeping their mask requirements for now. Other companies say they're no longer requiring masks for people who are fully vaccinated. Some of those companies are Walmart, Costco, Starbucks, and Trader Joe's. But I was at Trader Joe's this weekend and all their signage still says masks are required, and everyone was still wearing masks. It's a bit unclear how quickly things are going to change on the ground in indoor public spaces like that. Outdoor spaces are changing more quickly.

What are our local health officials saying?

The Washington State Department of Health tweeted this weekend indicating they support continued masking, even for fully vaccinated people. King County Public Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin seemed really concerned in a series of tweets over the past couple of days. He was talking about how important it is to keep masking up in communities where there are still high Covid rates. There are still high Covid rates in King County, especially south and southeast King County.

He was talking about how that's especially important in places like grocery stores, where it's harder or impossible to tell who's vaccinated because none of us have a habit of carrying around our vaccination card yet.

How are we doing on the vaccine rate?

In Washington state, about 60% of adults have gotten at least their first shot. Almost half are fully vaccinated. King County's slightly ahead of that, or kind of significantly ahead of that, but in King County, it varies widely by zip code. There are big swaths of Seattle where more than 80% of adults have had their first shot. Then there are parts of south and southeast King County where vaccination rates are much lower than that. Public health officials are working on addressing that right now.

Everyone 12 and older is now eligible. Aside from the mass clinics, where can people get vaccinated?

There are so many ways to get an appointment now. Many mass vaccination sites and medical clinics are accepting walk-ins. Many pharmacies have open appointments or take walk-ins, and there are many pop-up sites at places like churches, or just in neighborhoods, and now at places like breweries. You can get a beer while you get your vaccine.

June 30 is the date the governor has said he wants Washington state to fully reopen. How are we going to get to that point?

More vaccination is the best tool we have to prevent Covid transmission long term. Convenience, like having a pop-up vaccination site at your church or in your neighborhood, can help with that.

There's also some evidence that the new CDC guidance may help as well. I was interviewing people this weekend about how they felt about the guidance. Someone told me that she had not planned to get a vaccine, but now that being vaccinated means you got to take your mask off, she signed up for her first dose. There's some evidence that that's happening on a broader scale as well, that people are saying, "the CDC says vaccines work and vaccines have benefits, so now I will go get my vaccine."

Of course, actually ending the pandemic isn't just a matter of Washington residents getting vaccinated. People nationwide need to get vaccinated, and also, vaccines need to be available worldwide, and we're a long way from that.