Despite Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger’s best efforts to convince city councilors that the Queen City should rescind its Covid-19 mask mandate, his arguments fell flat.
City Council members chose to table the resolution that would have nullified the city’s mask mandate that the body passed almost exactly a year ago that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is no longer necessary for vaccinated people. Residents have been required to wear masks in all retail stores and city buildings since — a practice that will continue until June. Councilors voted to table the resolution until the next meeting on June 7.
Weinberger argued that rescinding the mask mandate would create consistency between local and state policies, as Vermont adopted the policy Friday. Councilors thought some in the city needed more time to become fully vaccinated before lifting the mandate as the county is lagging in its vaccination rates for those 18-29.
The decision was made in a 9-2 vote, with Councilor Chip Mason, D-Ward 5, absent and Councilors Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7, and Mark Barlow, I-North District, voting against.
The CDC announced the change in masking guidance late Thursday, which was adopted statewide by Gov. Phil Scott the next day. Under the new guidance, anyone who is fully vaccinated no longer has to wear a mask indoors due to the efficacy of the vaccine.
Under the new state and federal guidance, businesses are allowed to set their own policies on masking, but local mask mandates supersede those decisions. With Burlington’s mandate still in place, many businesses — including those that are selling goods to the general public, grocery stores, hardware stores, garden supply stores and convenience stores — still must require customers to mask up. Masks are also still required on public transportation, in health care settings, correctional centers and homeless shelters, according to federal rules.
Weinberger argued to councilors that the city should listen to the experts who say it is “exceedingly rare” for anyone who is vaccinated to become infected with Covid-19 and to transmit it to others.
There’s no longer a public health justification for the city to keep its mask mandate in place, he said, and asking businesses in Burlington to comply with a local mandate that’s not upheld by the state or the federal government will create conflict.
“It’s really unmistakable now that the risk of serious illness to vaccinated people is almost zero,” he said.
Brian Lowe, the city’s chief innovation officer, also provided CDC research to councilors that found that when Covid-19 mitigation efforts, such as masking, are rolled back, it incentivizes those who are currently unvaccinated to get immunized.
But Burlington employees and business owners have expressed concern that there’s no way to tell if someone is vaccinated if they walk into their store without a mask, and asking for proof could be legally dubious.
While Vermont is leading the nation with its vaccination rates — 70% of the eligible population has received at least one dose so far — Chittenden County is seeing a lag in vaccinations for those 18-29, the final age group to become eligible for the immunization. Only 49.2% of people 18-29 have received at least one shot in Chittenden County. For those 30 and above, the vaccination rate is above 80%.
“Slightly over half of this cohort hasn’t even gotten one shot, and these are many of the folks who are working in retail and who are exposed to, you know, dozens or in some cases hundreds of people a day,” said Councilor Jack Hanson, P-East District.
“These are the folks I’ve been hearing from who are really concerned about how this would impact them to have a really large number of interactions with unmasked people,” he added, “They really have just no way of knowing whether or not that person’s been vaccinated or not.”
Councillor Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1, introduced the motion to table the resolution to June 7 that would have rescinded the mask mandate. She said she felt the change in mask guidelines was too rushed and that those specifically in the 18-29 age group need more time to become fully immunized.
“I don’t understand why we’re exposing people who haven’t even had the chance to be fully vaccinated yet,” Hightower said. “I don’t feel like that is leading with our values.”
Councilor Jane Stromberg, P-Ward 8, agreed with Hightower that the change in guidance felt rushed.
“It feels like we’re kind of edging into prioritizing the economy over people,” she said, “which I know is not the right thing to do here.”
Burlington is not the first city in the country to postpone adopting the CDC’s new masking guidance — a policy change that caught many off guard around the U.S. when it was announced last week.
While Minnesota adopted the CDC’s new policy, Minneapolis is keeping its mask mandate in place while it reviews public health data. New Jersey, Massachusetts and California have also not adopted the new mask guidance either.
Before a final vote, Weinberger made clear he thought the council’s impending decision to postpone the city’s mask change would be a mistake.
“I’m quite uncomfortable with the idea that the City of Burlington, without a public health function, is going to make up public health policy,” he said. “It is uncomfortable to me and I think problematic that we would diverge at this point from the guidance.”
Clarification: An earlier version of this story was unclear on Burlington businesses’ ability to set their own mask rules and the percentage of Vermonters who have been partially or fully vaccinated.
