ORLANDO, Fla. — The Centers for Disease Control’s announcement that vaccinated people no longer need face coverings is having a ripple effect across Central Florida.
National companies and local businesses alike are weighing in on the new policy.
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Walmart, Publix, Costco, and Trader Joe’s have all announced they’ll no longer require customers who are fully vaccinated to wear a mask.
Companies like Starbucks and Target have said they’ll continue to require them.
“Businesses are making smart decisions,” Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino says. “They probably are concerned about lability.”
Dr. Pino says he thinks companies are walking a fine line with consumer confidence, and are likely also concerned about those customers who aren’t yet comfortable taking off their masks.
The owner of The Tap Room at Dubsdread in Orlando, Steve Gunter, says they’ll be embracing the new guidance, allowing his staff to make the decision.
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“My official word to my employees is, you wear it if you’re comfortable wearing it. If you’re not comfortable, or if you choose not to, that’s okay too.”
Gunter says his employees have either already had the virus or have been vaccinated.
Officially, the Orange County Government is also accepting the new guidance.
Mayor Jerry Demings announced Friday that visitors and staff in public county buildings will no longer be required to wear masks if they’re fully vaccinated.
They’ll still require three feet of social distancing while indoors.
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Mayor Demings acknowledges the difficulty of determining who is or isn’t vaccinated, describing the situation as an honor system.
“That’s the only way we can approach this,” Demings says. “Because we won’t know definitively who has been vaccinated and who has not. We cannot ask for the vaccine cards for anyone to prove that they’ve been vaccinated.”