Boston Will Drop Proof Of Vaccination Mandate If These Three Things Happen
BOSTON (CBS) – Mayor Michelle Wu said Boston is getting closer to reaching the thresholds that would allow the city to drop its proof of COVID vaccination requirement in certain indoor settings.
Wu was asked about the city's COVID metrics during a news conference Tuesday. The mayor said the city is "not there yet" when it comes to easing indoor mask requirements.
But she said Boston is getting closer to reaching metrics for dropping its requirement that people show proof of COVID vaccination at certain indoor venues.
Proof of vaccination currently applies to indoor restaurants, bars, nightclubs, gyms, and entertainment facilities.
Wu said the Boston Department of Public Health has three thresholds the city must reach in order to end its vaccination requirements - capacity of ICU beds must be below 95%, the number of daily COVID hospitalizations needs to drop below 200, and the COVID positivity rate has to dip below 5%.
"Once we are under all three of those thresholds, we intend to lift the business proof of vaccine requirement," Wu said.
Wu said the city is already under the ICU capacity number, and currently sits at a positivity rate of 7.4%. The number of daily COVID hospitalizations was 387 as of last week.
The mayor said it's important to note when viewing the Public Health Commission dashboard that community positivity is the rate being used, not the "All Boston" rate which includes surveillance testing.
