Mayor of Columbia favors vaccine action over mask mandate

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The mayor of Columbia said efforts should lean toward people getting vaccinated against COVID-19 instead of debating a mask mandate.

This comes as the city plans to meet Monday to possibly mandate masks once again.

The Columbia City Council is set to discuss an emergency ordinance, which, if passed, would require everyone 5 and older to wear masks if they are within six feet of others.

"Vaccinations are the best protection against COVID-19," said Brian Treece, the Columbia mayor. "You're either going to get a vaccine, or you're going to get COVID, because that's the trajectory we are on."

Boone County, while better than most Missouri counties on percentage of population vaccinated, still lags behind the national number.

So far, 54% of people in Boone County have initiated the vaccine process, compared to the nationwide 57%.

"If the community wants to prevent those types of mass mandates, and and you know, economic shutdowns, they need to get vaccinated," Treece said.

Those fully vaccinated account for 47.5% of people in Boone County, while nationwide, the United States has over 50% of Americans fully vaccinated.

Treece says we should put more effort into encouraging people to get the vaccine.

"Everybody needs to go get a vaccine, instead of fighting about whether we're going to mandate masks," Treece said. "I think it needs opinion leaders, you know, pastors, faith leaders, employers, talking about how important this is to continue the progress that we've made here."

The city council special meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday in the council chambers in City Hall. It will take six of the council's seven votes to pass the mandate. If passed, the rule will last 30 days.