GREENE COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - Tuesday marked the first day, since July 2020, of Indiana downgrading from a mask mandate to a mask advisory.
As a refresher, businesses will be able to decide if they want to require masks or not. Schools, hospitals, and state buildings will continue to enforce the mandate. Local county health departments and governments will dictate the direction of each individual county.
As we’ve reported, Vigo County decided to go along with the state and lower the mandate to an advisory. Parke County announced on Tuesday via their Facebook page that they too are following the Governor’s advisory.
News 10 spoke with Shari Lewis at the Greene County Health Department on Tuesday. She says as long as the County remains in the blue color code category and has little to moderate spread, they will also follow the Governor’s advice. However, she says it goes further than that.
“It’s not mandated but strongly encouraged that people continue to social distance, continue to wear a mask, and most importantly stay at home when you are sick,” Lewis said, “With a mask mandate going to an advisory, we may see less people out and about masking. We definitely want to have more people vaccinated.”
As a result of the state’s mask downgrade, the health department wants to make sure that people who want the vaccine have access to the vaccine. Greene County will be hosting a mass vaccination clinic Friday, April 9th, and Saturday, April 10th from 8 AM to 8 PM at the Greene County Fairgrounds.
Lewis says 8% of Greene County’s population is fully vaccinated right now, but the health department will have 1,500 Moderna vaccines ready to go this weekend to boost those numbers up.
“We definitely want to increase those numbers, and the fastest to increase that is to ensure that our residents have access to the vaccine,” Lewis concluded, “Our best efforts are to have testing and vaccine available for those who want it and we will continue to do that.”
Lewis says the Greene County Health Department prefers that you register at ourshot.in.gov for this weekend’s mass vaccination clinic. However, registration is not required.
