On June 30, 2021, Washington State Governor, Jay Inslee lifted the mask mandate …
Gov. Jay Inslee today announced that the state is moving toward a statewide June 30 reopening date and that all counties in Washington will move to Phase 3 of the Healthy WA: Roadmap to Recovery reopening plan effective May 18 until June 30.
The announcement comes after the governor paused phase movement for two weeks to review an emerging flattening trend in statewide COVID-19 data. As of today, the plateau observed in COVID-19 activity has become a decline.
“What we know now gives us the confidence to close this chapter in this pandemic and begin another,” Inslee said at a press conference Thursday. “This next part of our fight to save lives in Washington will focus on increasing vaccination rates and continuing to monitor variants of concern as we move toward reopening our state.”
The full reopening could happen earlier than June 30 if 70% or more of Washingtonians over the age of 16 initiate vaccination. Washington has administered over six million doses of vaccine, and 56 percent of Washingtonians have initiated vaccination.
Inslee also announced that Washington will fully adopt masking guidance issued by the CDC earlier today. He stressed that this guidance is for fully vaccinated people — meaning people who are two weeks removed from their second shot of Pfizer or Moderna, or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
As Brian Flanagan would recite, The Last Barman’s Poem, in the 1988 movie, Cocktail:
Brian : I am the last barman poet / I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make / Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake / The sex on the beach / The schnapps made from peach / The velvet hammer / The Alabama slammer. / I make things with juice and froth / The pink squirrel / The three-toed sloth. / I make drinks so sweet and snazzy / The iced tea / The kamakazi / The orgasm / The death spasm / The Singapore sling / The dingaling. / America you’ve just been devoted to every flavor I got / But if you want to got loaded / Why don’t you just order a shot? / Bar is open!
I am fully vaccinated as of June 7, 2021. I carry around my vaccination (vax) card to places where I might be asked. Only one place has: Lumen Field in Seattle. Other than that, carry on.
I am still finding masks that I’ve squirreled away in case I forgot the initial mask somewhere in pockets of various jackets, or jeans I previously wore.
It seems the goal of “flattening the curve” has been achieved! I won’t dare say the worst is behind us. I WILL say that it’s easier to feel confident with a large percentage of people that are vaccinated.
Unless the COVID-19 variants bloom into another global pandemic, this will be my final entry of the COVID-19 Chronicles.
Be good like you should, and if you can’t be good … be good at what you do!
‘los
los, Fil-Am Renaissance Man 