Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Friday that she’ll lift all capacity limits on restaurants, gyms, stadiums and other businesses and abolish mask requirements for even unvaccinated people in nearly all public settings when the state reaches 70% of its adults vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one dose.
That’s a mark the state could reach by June 21 — the first full day of summer, according to Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen. An analysis of current daily vaccination rates by The Oregonian/OregonLive estimates the date as June 24. Allen said he expects it will be no later than June 30 in a worst-case scenario.
“What does ‘fully reopen’ mean?” said Brown, during a live-streamed news conference. “…By and large this means we will be able to return to the activities and traditions we have missed for more than a year. Fourth of July barbecues. Eating popcorn and movie theater day. Getting a beer after work at the local brewery with your friends.”
Brown continued: “Restaurants and bars will be able to welcome a full house. The Pendleton Round-Up? Yes, that, too.”
Although vaccinated and unvaccinated people won’t be required to wear masks in the vast majority of public settings, the state will still mandate masks in airports, while on public transit and in health-care settings. The governor and public health officials are still trying to decide whether students will be required to wear masks in K-12 schools during summer school or when the academic year starts up for five days a week of in-person instruction in the fall.
Children under 12 are still too young to be vaccinated. Some experts estimate the federal government might grant authorization for first shots of this group to begin as early as September.
The governor said she also will lift all physical distancing requirements statewide — although, again, it’s unclear if special rules will remain in place for schools.
As of Thursday, 66.2% of adults in Oregon had received at least one dose — leaving 127,308 more people who must receive their first shots before the state reaches 70% and Brown lifts restrictions.
But even when the state reaches that threshold, a significant number of Oregonians still won’t be fully protected against the coronavirus. Approximately 66% of adults partially vaccinated translates to 54% of residents 16 and older fully vaccinated. And when all ages of the general population are taken into account, only about 44% are fully vaccinated.
Even though Brown plans to remove almost all COVID-19 safety measures at some point, perhaps later this month, state officials are urging unvaccinated people and immunocompromised people to still wear masks.
“This has really become a tale of two pandemics,” Brown said in a written statement. “If you are vaccinated, then you’re safe, you can carry on safely without wearing a mask and social distancing. If you are not vaccinated, this virus still poses a very real threat.”
To see more data and trends, visit https://projects.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/
— Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee