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King County mask directive set to end, vaccinations surpass 70%

KING COUNTY, Wash. — King County Public Health announced a major milestone in COVID-19 vaccination rates on Tuesday, bringing an end to the countywide mask directive by the end of the month.

Tuesday marked a big day for King County, as 70% of residents ages 16 and older received their final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Now that vaccination rates have gone up, the mask directive is set to come down — in two weeks, that is.

According to health officials, a person is fully inoculated 14 days after the completion of their vaccine series.

Come June 29 (exactly two weeks since that 70% threshold was breached), the current directive, which strongly encouraged mask -wearing for all individuals in public-indoor settings, will drop, and the Washington state mask guidance will go into effect for King County.

According to the state-issued guidance, “If you are not fully vaccinated, you must continue to wear face coverings and practice physical distancing in public.”

The state guidance also advises unvaccinated individuals to take other precautions, such as limiting indoor activities with unvaccinated people, staying in well-ventilated areas and maintaining physical distance.

“I think it’s great, actually,” said Debra Cardinal as she shopped for necklaces with her grandchildren at a stand inside of Pike Place Market. “I think that people need this. I think that people are needing to get out of the isolation.”

Cardinal, a Seattle resident and registered nurse, chose to do her shopping without a mask.

“Now that I’m vaccinated, I feel pretty confident that I’m OK,” she said.

For market employees like Anthony Zabala, the end of the mask directive comes with anticipation.

“Seeing how the market is now even compared to just five months ago,” Zabala said. “Seeing the city come back alive has been pretty awesome to see.”

Zabala said he interacts with up to 200 customers a day (he estimates 80% to 90% of those patrons wear masks).

And while he is happy to see vaccination rates continuing to climb for King County residents, many of his customers are tourists. Thus, once the directive lifts, he will have no way of knowing whether or not the people who chose to shop mask-free are vaccinated or not.

Zabala said interacting with mask-free, unvaccinated shoppers will be “inevitable,” but he is ready to see some smiling faces again.

“I’d rather just start living again than just keep living in fear,” Zabala said.

Come June 29, businesses will still be able to decide whether or not they want to enforce mask-wearing. King County Public Health advises the public to “respect the rules of the room you are in.”

Public Health reminds residents that an end to the directive is not all-encompassing, stating masks may still be required “in settings such as schools, shelters and health care facilities, along with on public transportation, all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, must continue to wear masks.”

More information on the current county guidelines can be found on Public Health’s COVID-19 website.