With shots, no masks required in city buildings in Beaufort. Why city changed course
Residents who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks when they enter city buildings in Beaufort.
The decision conforms with new guidance issued last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the city said Monday.
But Beaufort is asking those who are not fully vaccinated to continue to wear masks as a courtesy to others.
The city joins Beaufort County in not requiring masks for vaccinated residents in county-run buildings, although the county still is requiring them in courthouses.
Beaufort Municipal Court continues to require masks for anyone who enters the courtroom as well, per the order of S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty, the city said.
The city of Beaufort’s mandatory mask ordinance for all buildings, put in place last year to limit the spread of COVID-19, was allowed to expire at 11:59 p.m. April 30.
Businesses still have the discretion to require masks in their buildings.
The CDC said Thursday that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.
Currently authorized vaccines are highly effective at protecting vaccinated people against symptomatic and severe COVID-19., the CDC said.
Additionally, a growing body of evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection or transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. How long vaccine protection lasts and how much vaccines protect against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants are still under investigation.
