Public Health Network Leader Responds to New Mask Rules in LA County
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, February 24 2022
Contact: Cabot Petoia, clpetoia@gmail.com, 828-899-9239
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Los Angeles — Today, St. John’s Well Child and Family Center responded to the news that beginning Friday, wearing a mask will be optional for fully vaccinated individuals at establishments that check the vaccination status of their visitors:
“From a strictly scientific perspective, it would be ideal if everyone continued masking indoors until COVID-19 is officially over – but the pandemic has been extremely politicized from day one, and people are tired,” said Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John’s Well Child and Family Center. “At this point, people facing serious illness from COVID-19 are almost exclusively those who are unvaccinated. I hope that the lifting of the mask mandate for vaccinated people will help encourage those who have yet to get their shots to do so now, while cases remain relatively low.”
St. John’s also provided the following updates around COVID-19:
- To date, they have administered over 430,000 COVID-19 vaccines, and are currently vaccinating up to 500 people per day.
- They’ve been testing up to 50 people per day for COVID-19, about 2-4 percent of whom are positive.
- In anticipation of the vaccine being approved for children under five in April, they are preparing to do community outreach and run social media ads to reach parents.