As mask requirements lift, CDC keeps requirements in place for certain situations

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

As case numbers continue to stay low and Missourians get vaccinated, local officials are lifting masks restrictions across Columbia and Boone County.

Starting Tuesday, masks will no longer be required in city or county government buildings for fully vaccinated people.

Masks will still be required at the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services.

The University of Missouri is also changing its policies on masks and social distancing on Tuesday. The university will no longer require masks indoors, and it will also no longer require Incident Command to approve campus events. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently changed guidelines to allow fully vaccinated people to return to a state of normalcy. However, there are still some situations when masks will be required or recommended.

CDC guidance states you can now resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.

If you travel in the United States and you are fully vaccinated, you do not need to get tested before or after travel or self-quarantine.

However, if you choose to travel, the CDC said you will still be required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation.

People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

If you don’t meet these requirements, you are not fully vaccinated, and the CDC recommends you keep taking all precautions until you are fully vaccinated.

Back here in mid-Missouri, Columbia Public Schools will no longer require masks indoors or on buses starting Friday. People can still choose to wear masks. 

Both the city and county still advise people who are not vaccinated to wear masks.