By a vote of 19-5, the Indianapolis City-County Council has approved lifting the mask mandate for citizens who’ve been vaccinated from COVID-19.
The vote was necessary due to a recent change in the state law.
Masks are still required in hospitals and on public transportation like Indy Go as well as the Indianapolis International Airport.
The Council also approved easing restrictions on crowd sizes, such as religious services and funeral homes and public pools which can now operate at 100 percent, while bars, restaurants, golf courses, entertainment, cultural venues, and other businesses can now operate at 75 percent.
Dr. Virginia Cain of the Marion County Public Health Department said her goal was to fully open Indianapolis back up, provided the county can hit a herd immunity rate totaling 80 percent, with 50 percent of that coming from vaccinations and 30 percent due to natural immunity from individuals who have had the coronavirus. Right now the city is at 36 percent fully vaccinated and 30 percent are estimated to have a natural immunity having been previously diagnosed with COVID-19.
The vote was along party lines, with all five Council Republicans voting no, saying they supported completely opening Indianapolis.
Indy Politics spoke with Council President Vop Osili and Republican Minority Leader to get their reaction to the easing of restrictions. We also spoke about the recent uptake in crime in the city as well.
You can hear them both in the Leon-Tailored Audio above.
