LOS ANGELES — Fully vaccinated individuals will soon be able to shed their masks indoors at Los Angeles County establishments that screen the inoculation status of visitors and patrons, health officials said Wednesday.
While not a complete easing, the revised rules — which take effect at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time Friday — represent a significant relaxation of the county’s universal indoor mask mandate, which has been in place since July. And depending on how many businesses elect to take advantage, the impact could be both widespread and widely apparent, especially in places like offices, gyms, restaurants, bars and hair salons.
However, it also may be short-lived. County health officials have expressed optimism that the region is mere weeks away from clearing the threshold they’ve set to fully repeal the requirement that fully vaccinated individuals must still mask up in many indoor public places. Doing so would align the county’s rules with those that are in place across the vast majority of California.
