Baker: No Plans To Bring Back Statewide Mask Mandate In Massachusetts
BOSTON (CBS) -- There are no plans to bring back a statewide mask mandate in Massachusetts. Gov. Charlie Baker said this on Monday while announcing a new rapid at-home testing initiative in the state.
The presence of vaccines has made all the difference, the governor said.
"Keep in mind that we're in a very different place than we were in before: five million people are fully vaccinated, a million and a half of those are boosted, over six million people have at least one dose. And we continue to focus aggressively on those communities and those populations that are most vulnerable," Baker explained.
According to Baker, if the unvaccinated people in this state got vaccinated, hospitalizations would drop by 50 percent.
"There's simply no question that the vaccines work."
Mask mandates have been left up to individual cities and towns.
Boston has been under a mask mandate in public, indoor places since August 27 when cases started rising.
Salem recently reinstated their mask requirement for city buildings and will be discussing whether a citywide mandate should be put in place again this week.