Janey Calls For Masks In Boston Schools This Fall, No Vaccine Mandate For City Workers Yet
BOSTON (CBS) – Acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey announced Thursday that all students and teachers in Boston schools will be required to wear a mask when classes resume in the fall.
Masks are currently required in summer programs and that will continue when the new school year begins.
"After a year and a half of battling COVID-19, I understand many of us feel ready to move on from the pandemic," Janey said in a news conference at City Hall. "But let me be clear, the pandemic is not over. We are still living with COVID, and must do all we can to keep ourselves, our families, and our communities safe."
Janey also said she will not yet require city workers to be vaccinated, but added a mandate is still possible in the future.
"If it takes a mandate to keep the City of Boston employees safe, that is what we'll do, with very thoughtful, workers-centered approaches," the acting mayor told reporters. "But we must do that by building the right plan for our workforce and for our vital city services. As we have done throughout this pandemic, we will follow the public health data. We will provide resources to make getting a vaccine easier, and we will ensure a high level of service to the public, and we will work with our public sector unions on any plan that we implement, including a potential mandate."
The Centers for Disease Control announced Tuesday that fully vaccinated Americans in communities with substantial or high COVID transmission should once again wear face masks in public indoor settings.
The announcement came as the highly contagious Delta variant has caused a rise in cases COVID nationwide, including some breakthrough cases among the fully vaccinated.
Suffolk County is among the regions in Massachusetts with substantial transmission, according to the CDC.
