HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday announced it will follow the CDC’s new mask guidance, in which fully vaccinated people can go most places without masks.
However, coupled with Pennsylvania’s own mask restrictions, business owners said they were the ones left to enforce a confusing set of guidelines.
Printed signs politely inform customers to follow coronavirus restrictions at Jodi Pabon’s vintage clothing store, the Scarlet Willow, in Lancaster.
The country has seen multiple shootings and deaths during the pandemic due to fights over masks.
Pabon doesn’t want to start one.
“It hasn’t really been too much of a stretch but there have definitely been people that I’ve had to ask and there’s definitely been people that have been rude or not happy because I’ve asked them to put their mask on or wear it properly,” Pabon said.
The Wolf administration had previously announced mask restrictions would be lifted once 70 percent of Pennsylvanians are vaccinated. Under the new guidance, fully vaccinated people can go without masks in most situations, but those not vaccinated still have to wait for that 70 percent vaccination threshold to happen.
“It’s confusing because it seems like it’s an all-or-nothing thing,” Pabon said. “There’s no way for me to enforce asking each person that comes in, and that person can tell me whatever want to tell me.”
Pabon said she didn’t know if the Scarlet Willow will continue to require masks. She wants customers to feel safe in her store but also feels asking customers about their vaccination status is intrusive.
“That’s a whole other added step to running my business that’s already been difficult,” she said.
As of May 13 53.3 percent of Pennsylvanians had received at least one vaccine dose, according to the Department of Health.
It’s unclear how other businesses will enforce the new guidelines in the time it takes to vaccinate the remaining 17 percent.
“You can sort of do whatever you want,” Pabon said. “Because again, how am I going to enforce whether or not you are vaccinated? I don’t want to have to ask everybody.”