New Mask Rules In Effect In PA

HARRISBURG, PA —Pennsylvania will follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated guidance on masking, Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam confirmed Thursday afternoon.

According to the CDC guidance updated Thursday, fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks or social distancing except for when on buses, trains, planes and other forms of public transport, or while in hospitals, doctors' offices and other health care settings.

The commonwealth’s existing mask order includes language directing to the CDC’s guidance for fully vaccinated people, which allows for no face coverings. "That means that today’s CDC guidelines automatically go into effect in Pennsylvania," the state Department of Health said.

The masking requirement will still be in place for unvaccinated individuals until 70 percent of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older are fully vaccinated.

"If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday. "We have all longed for this moment, when we can get back to some sense of normalcy."

Private businesses can still require patrons to wear masks.

“Today’s guidance from the CDC affects only people who are fully vaccinated,” Beam said. “This is another incentive to get the vaccine that is now easily and conveniently available. Once 70 percent of Pennsylvanians over 18 are fully vaccinated, we can completely lift the masking order.”