Fed up with stringent coronavirus restrictions, some residents of a small county in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are reportedly saying they “identify as fully vaccinated” amid new guidance that allows inoculated people to ditch masks in public.
The updated guidance issued last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which allows for fully vaccinated individuals to “resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing” — has inevitably led to some confusion over how to enforce mask and social distancing mandates in public.
And in a region of the country eager to be finished with the pandemic, some are taking advantage of that uncertainty, reported Kerry Ott, public information officer for the Luce, Mackinac, Alger, and Schoolcraft (LMAS) health department, to Michigan Radio.
“A lot of people are using the phrase, ‘I identify as fully vaccinated’ and taking their masks off,” Ott said of Luce County residents. “I’m not kidding …They’re not vaccinated, but they’re going to take their masks off.”
In a county of 6,600 people where only three have died from the virus, the opportunistic behavior is meeting little resistance from public health authorities.
Ott has reportedly been telling local businesses there’s not much they can do beyond making a “good faith” effort. – READ MORE
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