As COVID-19 cases plummet across the country on the tail of the omicron wave, some cities that imposed vaccine requirements and widespread mask mandates are reconsidering the policies amid growing public opposition.
Denver’s mayor said Monday that the city would allow indoor mask and proof-of-vaccination requirements to expire at the end of the week.
Citing the “downward trajectory of cases, positivity, and hospitalizations,” Mayor Michael Hancock announced that the mask mandates would continue in schools but not for most indoor establishments to which the previous public health order applied.
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Customers at Denver businesses will not have to show their vaccine card to enter buildings starting Friday, making Denver one of the first cities to ditch a policy that has divided voters and crippled businesses.
New COVID-19 cases in Denver County have fallen by 58% over the past two weeks and have come down dramatically since the height of the omicron wave at the beginning of January.
Chicago’s leaders have signaled that their proof-of-vaccination requirements may soon end as well, with COVID-19 infections falling significantly in the region.
In Cook County, Illinois, which contains Chicago, cases have fallen 72% in the past two weeks.
Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday that the city could soon lift its proof-of-vaccination requirements for bar and restaurant customers given the encouraging drop in cases and hospitalizations.
“We’re not going to keep the vaccination requirement just because we like it. We’re keeping it because the risk remains higher at this point,” Arwady said. “I am feeling confident that it will be able to come off relatively soon, and if we keep seeing a 50% drop week over week, that could be quite soon.”
Democratic Gov. J.B Pritzker signed a statewide indoor mask mandate for Illinois last year — meaning Chicago could have to wait until the Illinois Legislature shifts its position on masks to lift its other major mandate.
But the city’s pivot toward ending the vaccine card requirements sets it apart from cities that have outlined no clear off-ramp for their COVID-19 rules.
Washington, D.C., imposed proof-of-vaccination rules on many businesses in late December — weeks after the start of the omicron wave and months after cities such as New York and San Francisco adopted the card check rules.
A spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C., mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner about what COVID-19-related numbers officials are trying to achieve before lifting the rule.
New cases in the nation’s capital have fallen 73% over the past two weeks, however.
New York City has also shown few signs of backing down from its Key to NYC program, which requires patrons over the age of 5 to show proof of having received both COVID-19 shots to enter restaurants, gyms, theaters, and other indoor establishments.
Mayor Eric Adams extended the Key to NYC policy upon taking office, and city officials have shown seemingly little interest in backing away from mask mandates, proof-of-vaccination requirements, or employer-based vaccine rules.
New York City, meanwhile, has seen a precipitous drop in COVID-19 infections — with new cases falling 81% over the past two weeks.
Philadelphia officials are seemingly attempting to split the difference in the complicated debate over when and whether to unwind COVID-19 restrictions — telegraphing that an end to the rules will come but doing so without setting time frames or specific metrics necessary for their expiration.
“If things continue the way they are, we could start to see things getting back to some semblance of normal,” Dr. Chery Bettigole, the Philadelphia health commissioner, said Wednesday. “If you think about where we are with this particular wave and case rates right now, we’re probably several months away from a place where we will have the kind of safety to drop all the current restrictions.”
Bettigole also acknowledged that Philadelphia officials have begun to discuss the criteria necessary for ending the city’s restrictions, which include an indoor mask mandate and a proof-of-vaccination requirement for restaurants, theaters, and other businesses.
The slow drift of Democratic state and local leaders away from emergency COVID-19 measures comes as polling shows voters are growing impatient with restrictions.
A Monmouth University poll published this week found that 70% of people agreed with the sentiment that “it’s time we accept that COVID-19 is here to stay, and we just need to get on with our lives.”
And while many lower courts have left vaccine mandates intact, the Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down the Biden administration’s federal employer-based vaccine mandate has opened the door for cities and companies to end rules that had cost them workers.
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The Las Vegas Police Department said this week that it would end a vaccine requirement for new hires that the Clark County sheriff put in place in August.
“I support the vaccines,” Sheriff Joe Lombardo said of his decision to end the mandate. “I think they keep you from a detrimental experience or hospitalization possibly resulting in death, but that is a personal decision.”
A number of major corporations have taken advantage of the ruling to end existing or call off future vaccine mandates, with a recent survey showing just one-third of businesses plan to require their workers to get vaccinated.
