WEST LEBANON — Upper Valley municipalities and businesses say they’re struggling to adjust to new, relaxed mask guidelines announced by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, and might just stick with how they have been operating for the time being.
The guidance — that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can stop wearing masks in most indoor settings — conflicts with earlier rules put forward by health experts, officials say.
The announcement also came with no warning Thursday, leaving business owners and municipal officials with little time to debate new policies or roll them out before the weekend.
The result is a hodgepodge of regulations. Some towns and cities are moving to roll back coronavirus measures, while others plan to hold onto their mask mandates.
Retailers are also starting to split on the issue. Some — including Walmart, Starbucks, Costco and Trader Joe’s — dropped their mask mandates after the CDC announcement.
“I worry that it’s going to be sort of all over the place and people are going to really be confused,” Lebanon Mayor Tim McNamara said in a phone interview Monday.
Lebanon instituted its own mask mandate in August, but McNamara worries that people from surrounding towns might not be aware of the rules or misinterpret the CDC announcement as overriding the city’s ordinance.
For example, Lebanon’s mask mandate would still apply to the Walmart and Starbucks in West Lebanon.
He’s also unsure how Lebanon should proceed. While McNamara says he believes the CDC decision was grounded in science, there’s guidance from the New Hampshire Medical Society that, for the time being, encourages cities to maintain their mask mandates.
The society issued a letter last month asking people to continue wearing masks until vaccination levels reach at least 70% and the spread of COVID-19 is considered “minimal” by state health officials.
So far, a little more than 42% of eligible New Hampshire residents are fully vaccinated, and the level of COVID-19 transmission within Grafton County remains “substantial,” according to the state’s online dashboard.
“I think it’s really confusing at this point,” McNamara said. “My personal opinion is that we need some sort of clarity.”
In Hanover, the town’s mask ordinance remains in place and will likely stay that way until more people are vaccinated, Town Manager Julia Griffin said.
“We’re really wanting to hold on until the lion’s share in our region is fully vaccinated,” she said, placing that number around 70%.
However, the Woodstock Village Trustees felt comfortable enough with the CDC’s guidelines that it voted last week to relax its outdoor mask mandate. They were poised Monday night to also do away with indoor mask rules for fully vaccinated people, according to Trustees Chairman Jeffrey Kahn.
Those changes should put the village in line with new regulations announced by Vermont Gov. Phil Scott last week that lift masking and physical distancing requirements for fully vaccinated Vermonters.
Under Scott’s executive order, masking and physical distancing for fully vaccinated Vermonters isn’t required — except in schools, on public transportation, healthcare settings, long-term care facilities and in prisons.
The state’s mask mandate also remains in place for those who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, including children who are not yet eligible for a vaccine.
Kahn, the lone trustee to vote against lifting the village’s outdoor mask mandate, said he believes the move was “premature.” The town is a tourist hub, he said, and lots of people from out of state are expected to visit Woodstock’s busy sidewalks and shops this summer.
“Either direction is confusing to the public in my opinion,” said Kahn, who owns the gift shop Unicorn and requires customers to wear masks. “Nobody has a sign that says ‘I’m vaccinated’ or ‘I’m unvaccinated.’ ”
Farm-Way, a destination outdoor apparel store in Bradford, Vt., also intends to keep its mask mandate in place until July 4.
Carol Metayer, president and co-owner of the company, said that will allow all staff enough time to get their first and second shots. No one at the store has contracted the coronavirus yet, she said, adding she’d like to prevent anyone from getting sick.
“We thought it was a little early in the game,” Metayer said. “It kind of feels like every move that’s being made right now is being made a little quick.”
Likewise, the Co-op Food Stores and Dartmouth College reiterated that masks will continue to be required on their property.
“We are making no changes to our COVID-19 safety policies. Period. This includes our simple guideline on masks: No Mask, No Entry, No Exceptions,” Co-op General Manager Paul Guidone wrote in an email to staff Monday.
“If others push for a rush to normalcy, that is fine. At our Co-op, we will proceed in a calculated and deliberate manner, always out of an abundance of caution,” he added.
Still, some Upper Valley residents feel that the time has come to drop mask mandates and point to the CDC’s announcement that the science is behind them.
“It just seems to make sense that if people have been vaccinated that they shouldn’t have to wear a mask. Plain and simple,” said Lebanon portrait artist John Kenyon.
Kenyon said he initially supported Lebanon’s mask mandate but when vaccines became available, it should have been lifted.
“There’s no significant reason to keep a mask mandate in place at this particular stage in time,” said Kenyon, 57, who hasn’t yet been vaccinated but said he is not opposed to getting the shots.
Amelia Sereen, a retired physician assistant from Lebanon, also said that people shouldn’t have to rely on mandates to determine what’s best for their health and for others around them.
“The mandates are useful and guidance from the government is useful,” she said. “But the attitude of doing something because that’s what the mandate says, I think, is really a problem.”
Sereen, who took steps during the pandemic to limit her contact with others and shop less, said that she’s fully vaccinated but continues to wear a mask in public.
“The cost of getting COVID is very high and the cost of wearing a mask is not much,” she said.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.