Mask and Vaccine Mandates in the 50 U.S. States.
As of February 17, 2022, only four U.S. states (Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington) continue to have indoor mask mandates. Other states have switched to requiring masks only for unvaccinated individuals and in public spaces. The remaining eleven states have not imposed any mask mandates to date. As for a vaccine mandate, 46% of the states require their residents to get vaccinated for COVID-19, while 30% have no active mandate in place.
Over the past two years of the pandemic, we have seen various changes made to regulations about masks and vaccines. Early in the pandemic, U.S. health officials discouraged the public from wearing masks due to a shortage of N95 masks for the nation’s healthcare workers. Starting April 2020, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began recommending the use of non-medical masks in public to reduce transmission. Soon after, many U.S. states enforced mask mandates for their residents.
By November 2020, nearly 35 states had made the use of masks mandatory in public spaces, with exceptions for children and those with medical conditions. Similarly, in early November 2021, the Biden administration announced a vaccine mandate, which was followed by various state governments enforcing the same.
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Girisha is a second-year graduate student at Columbia University, pursuing a Master's in Public Health. She is excited to combine her passion for Public Health and writing with the hopes of delivering quality health information, one article at a time!