BURLINGTON — After a fiery meeting that showcased how polarizing pandemic restrictions have become, city councilors voted unanimously to enact a citywide mask mandate Wednesday evening, requiring businesses to ensure that employees and patrons either wear masks or prove they are vaccinated.
The mandate requires indoor masking while Covid-19 spread is “high” or “substantial” in Chittenden County as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with some exceptions. Per state law, it must be renewed monthly and cannot extend past April 30, 2022.
People do not have to wear masks in restaurants, convenience stores or gyms if everyone in the establishment has shown proof that they are vaccinated, the ordinance stated. In retail stores, masks are required of everyone regardless of vaccination status. Places of worship are exempt from the directive.
While councilors approved the ordinance unanimously, their deliberations on the topic enraged an unruly crowd of about 50 attendees who showed up to oppose the mask mandate.
The attendees, most of whom disregarded City Hall’s mask requirement, heckled the council throughout its debate, earning rebukes from multiple councilors.
The fracas reached its climax when Councilor Joan Shannon, D-South District — who had previously expressed reservations about a mandate — candidly told the crowd that their behavior made her more amenable to a mask requirement.
“One of the arguments that I’ve heard that I have found to be persuasive on the side of not having a mask mandate is that we can all be responsible adults,” Shannon said over the shouts of attendees. “Every time you clap, every time you yell, I will tell you, you’re pushing me in the opposite direction.”
“We are polarizing each other, and it’s not helpful,” Shannon said.
“Thanks, Mom!” an attendee shot back.
In addition to the outbursts, a dozen opponents to the mandate — the majority of whom did not live in Burlington — blasted the ordinance during the meeting’s public forum. While several derided the effectiveness of masks and vaccines, others criticized the policy of requiring masks as bad for the economy and a violation of personal liberties.
“Our businesses are already battling labor and staffing shortages, and unnecessary overregulation will only contribute to more labor shortages,” said Christopher-Aaron Felker, chair of the Burlington Republican Party.
City businesses are split on the mandate. While some oppose the measure, others welcome it, said Kelly Devine, executive director of the Burlington Business Association. Devine said her organization is not taking a side on the issue.
It’s unclear whether surrounding towns with large shopping centers will approve mask mandates, raising questions among some councilors about whether Burlington stores could lose out to nearby competitors that do not require masks.
In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Miro Weinberger said he has considered such a scenario, though he said the current Covid-19 situation still demands a mask mandate.
“It’s a much tougher call now than it was at earlier points in this pandemic, when the risks were much greater,” Weinberger said. “This has definitely weighed on me.”
“I think the economic impacts are unknown, and whether or not South Burlington or Essex or Colchester puts in place similar policies I don’t think should drive this decision,” he said.
Vermont is facing a record-high number of hospitalizations for Covid-19, with the vast majority of those patients unvaccinated. Councilors passed the mask ordinance hours after officials at the University of Vermont Medical Center announced it would add five temporary beds to its nearly full intensive care unit. All but two of the Burlington hospital’s intensive care beds were filled Tuesday, with seven spots occupied by Covid-19 patients.
Officials say pent-up demand for care put off during the pandemic is also straining resources, and they’re worried a post-Thanksgiving virus Covid-19 surge could max out the unit’s capacity.
[Looking for data on breakthrough cases? See our reporting on the latest available statistics.]
Critically low hospital capacity was the driving force that led Shannon to approve the measure, she said.
While she maintained that Burlington and the state need to adjust to Covid-19 as a lasting part of normal life, Shannon said the mask mandate made sense at least for the next month.
“This isn’t a panacea,” she warned her fellow councilors, noting that data show Covid-19 transmission often occurs in private settings untouched by the mandate. “There may be some tweaks we need down the road.”
Councilors unanimously voted to get rid of a proof of vaccination exemption for retail stores after Councilor Joe Magee, P-Ward 3, introduced an amendment to the original resolution proposed by Weinberger.
Magee’s amendment followed an earlier attempt by Councilor Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7, to kill the vaccine exemption altogether. Dieng — who said that checking vaccination status would be challenging for short-staffed businesses and perhaps discriminatory — received no second for his proposed amendment.
The mayor defended the ordinance’s vaccine exemption at his afternoon press conference, saying that the move could assist businesses that do not want to make patrons wear masks and convince those who haven’t been inoculated yet to get their shots.
Weinberger spoke at the conference alongside UVM Medical Center President Stephen Leffler. Although he did not explicitly endorse the mayor’s proposal, Leffler indicated that the move could boost vaccinations.
“I want to be clear right now that I support people masking and being vaccinated,” Leffler said, “but I understand why a policy like that could drive up vaccination rates.”
“Anything that gets more people vaccinated in Vermont in general is a good thing,” he said.
Also at the press conference, Weinberger announced that Burlington should be able to test its wastewater for the presence of the Omicron variant within roughly one week.
Cities and towns in the state received authority to enact mask mandates last week after Gov. Phil Scott offered legislative leaders the “olive branch” of letting each town decide its mask policy. Scott has resisted calls to implement a statewide mask mandate.
Brattleboro was the first municipality in the state to exercise its new authority, passing a mask mandate hours after Scott signed the bill. Since then, Warren has also taken up a mask mandate, while Hartford voted one down. A number of other cities and towns plan to take up the issue at meetings scheduled for later this month.
The Burlington City Council is set to convene Dec. 13 for its next meeting.
Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated where increased coronavirus spread would take place to result in an indoor mask mandate.
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