Philadelphia abandons vaccination mission for indoor meals

Philadelphia is joining a growing list of cities that will no longer require proof of vaccinations to enter locations that serve food or drinks.

Philadelphia Department of Public Health announced the policy on Wednesday, citing improving cases and hospitalizations as the Omicron-driven wave dwindles.

Other cities and counties have recently relaxed vaccination regulations for indoor dining. including Washington, DC., and as of Wednesday, county including Seattle.

The Philadelphia government has announced a new tiered Covid response system that it says will make its public health decisions more transparent by tying them to case-specific standards. new, tested positive, and hospitalized. If indicators improve, authorities will continue to relax restrictions, but if they go wrong, regulations will be reinstated.

While Philadelphia is abolishing its vaccination mandate, masks will still be required in all indoor public locations for now. Under its new system, that could also change if its situation continues to improve.

Philadelphia is one of several cities and counties, including Los Angelesto maintain the mask policy and not follow the lead of a range of states, including New York, New shirt, Oregon and California, where the mask’s duty is being lifted. Pennsylvania ended its statewide masking mandate for K-12 students on January 17.