Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson says people can remove their face masks — sometimes. In workplace settings, vaccinated individuals may remove their masks under limited circumstances. Those who are not vaccinated may not.
The mayor has revised Emergency Order 13: Those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear a mask when separate from the public and unvaccinated coworkers. But if they are around coworkers, the mask must go on.
Fully vaccinated means someone who is two weeks past his or her full series of vaccine: Two weeks after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two weeks after the second dose of Pfizer or Moderna.
Masks are still required indoors when in public settings or communal spaces outside of the home and at outdoor gatherings in public, the mayor said.
The mayor’s emergency powers are given to her by the Anchorage Assembly, which votes on renewing them once again at Tuesday’s Assembly meeting. At every Assembly meeting, Assemblywoman Jamie Allard makes a motion to remove the emergency powers from the mayor. At every meeting of the Assembly for the past six months, it is voted down by the progressive Assembly.
Suzanne Downing is the publisher of Must Read Alaska. She is a former business owner, longtime journalist, and political adviser who worked for Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska. Raised in Juneau, Alaska and based somewhere in Alaska, she was the editor of the Juneau Empire and now writes on current events and politics.
