Allen County responds to upcoming mask advisory, vaccine eligibility
'The governor's move is sooner than I would have preferred,' says Dr. Matthew Sutter of the Allen County Health Department on Governor Holcomb's decision to downgrade to a mask advisory on April 6.
Next week more hoosiers will become eligible for the covid vaccineand a week later the mask mandate becomes a mask advisory.fox55's kelsey mannix tells us how people in allen county feel about the upcoming changes.
Dr. sutter: "it's too early to go back to normal."dr. mattew sutter of the allen county health department doesn't necessarily agree with governor holcomb's move to a mask advisory on april 6th.dr. sutter: "the governor's move is sooner than i would have preferred.
While he's choosing easter, i think memorial day would have been a much better day to do that."masks will still be required at vaccination sites and state buildings but private businesses can make their own decisions.indiana department of health commissioner doctor kristina box is confident people will make safe decisions going forward.dr. kristina box, commissioner in health dept: "whether it's called a mask mandate or a mask advisory, hoosiers know what the science shows."sutter strongly suggest people continue to take precautions.
Dr. sutter: "regardless of what the state's response is, regardless of what local response is, we need people to understand the pandemic is still going on, we're not quite there yet, and we need to get vaccines in arms."which means continuing to wear masks.
Fort wayne father lucas bates says he's plans to.lucas bates: "you don't want to endanger anybody else, so it is what it is.sutter says he's hopeful vaccine distribution will continue to ramp up.dr. sutter: "there's a lot of other infrastructure in the county, including pharmacies, doctor's offices.
There's lots of places that can get shots in arms, and we hope that the state will be utilizing all of those."the sooner this pandemic ends, the more bates can take his daughter out to socialize.lucas bates: "just waiting to be able to hang out and do cool 3-year-old stuff."
In fort wayne i'm kelsey mannix, fox 55 news.
For more information about vaccine eligibility and where masks will still be required, you can visit our website w-f-f-t dot
