Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly lifted city mask and social distancing requirements on Friday for fully-vaccinated citizens.
In an executive order signed Friday afternoon, Kelly followed recent guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allowing fully-vaccinated people in city buildings to go without a face mask or social distancing for the first time in over a year.
“What it tells us for certain – again this is just echoing CDC guidelines -is that vaccines work, and that the guidelines, again, are very, very simple: Get vaccinated, or wear a mask. It’s your choice,” Kelly said at a news conference on Friday. “Unfortunately, vaccination rates here are not quite yet to 40%, so we have some real work to do and we’re having some creative conversations about how to get that rate north.
“But it’s really that simple, and we’re excited,” Kelly said, encouraging people to still carry masks and be “completely tolerant” of those still wearing them.
Kelly said the city will operate on the “honor system,” because it would not be practical to try to verify that maskless citizens have been vaccinated. He also said the city is working to encourage vaccinations since the city and state’s vaccination rates have plateaued in recent weeks.