The Latest: Vaccinated don’t need masks at work in Anchorage | World
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FILE – In this Sunday, March 21, 2021 file photo a vial and syringes of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sikh temple, on the day the first Vaisakhi Vaccine Clinic is launched, in Luton, England. Results from a U.S. trial of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine may have used “outdated information,” U.S. federal health officials said early Tuesday March 23, 2021.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a press conference in the Chancellor’s Office following consultations between the federal and state governments in Berlin Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Germany extended its lockdown measures by another month and imposed several new restrictions, including largely shutting down public life over Easter, in an effort to drive down the rate of coronavirus infections.
FILE – In this March 8, 2021 file photo, a syringe with the AstraZeneca vaccine is picutred at a new vaccination centre at the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany. AstraZeneca’s release of encouraging data about its coronavirus vaccine from its U.S. trial raised hopes that the drug company could bury doubts about the shot and put a troubled rollout behind it. But just hours later, U.S. officials released an unusual statement expressing concerns AstraZeneca had included “outdated information” from its study and that it may have provided “an incomplete view of the efficacy data.”
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives with British Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance, right, to attend a news conference at 10 Downing Street, on the first anniversary of Britain’s coronavirus lockdown, in London, Tuesday March 23, 2021. The day is being called a national day of reflection to mark the anniversary of Britain’s first coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown.
Women walk along a popular street, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, March 22, 2021. Daily COVID-19 infections in Turkey surged above 26,000, weeks after the government eased restrictions in dozens of provinces under a so-called “controlled normalization” program. The Health Ministry reported a total of 26,182 new infections on Tuesday March 23, a level previously seen in December 2020.
FILE – In this May 21, 2020 file photo, a Puerto Rican flag flies on an empty beach at Ocean Park, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The number of tourists arrested in Puerto Rico on charges of violating COVID-19 measures is increasing as the U.S. territory cracks down on visitors who stay out past curfew and refuse to wear face masks or remain under quarantine, authorities said Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
Cemetery workers transport the coffin that contains the remains of Sgt. Jorge Luis Pereira da Silva, 54, who died from COVID-19, as military policemen receive his body with full honors at the Campo da Esperanca cemetery in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The nation had an average of 2,235 deaths a day last week – the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
Rows of graves stand freshly dug at the Campo da Esperanca cemetery, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The nation had an average of 2,235 deaths a day last week – the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
President Joe Biden speaks about the shooting in Boulder, Colo., Tuesday, March 23, 2021, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Alexei Kudrin, the head of the chair of the Audit Chamber, back to a camera, during their meeting inn the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
Women take photo of plum blossom tree at a park near the Chongwenmen Gate in Beijing, Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
Visitors wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus walk during a lunch break at a park in Goyang, South Korea, Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
Armin Laschet, minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia, speaks during a press conference in Duesseldorf, Germany, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Germany extended its lockdown measures by another month and imposed several new restrictions, including largely shutting down public life over Easter, in an effort to drive down the rate of coronavirus infections.
A worker waits outside an injection booth during a COVID-19 vaccination session for resident foreign journalists at a vaccination center in Beijing, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Chinese medical firm Sinovac said its COVID-19 vaccine is safe in children ages 3-17, based on preliminary data, and it has submitted the data to Chinese drug regulators. State-owned Sinopharm, who has two COVID-19 vaccines, is also investigating the effectiveness of its vaccines in children.
Workers wearing protective gear register a person during a COVID-19 vaccination session for resident foreign journalists at a vaccination center in Beijing, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Chinese medical firm Sinovac said its COVID-19 vaccine is safe in children ages 3-17, based on preliminary data, and it has submitted the data to Chinese drug regulators. State-owned Sinopharm, who has two COVID-19 vaccines, is also investigating the effectiveness of its vaccines in children.
A nurse takes out pack of doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine from a refrigerator at a community health center in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province on Monday, March 15, 2021. Sinovac said its COVID-19 vaccine is safe in children ages 3-17, based on preliminary data, and it has submitted the data to Chinese drug regulators for approval. More than 70 million shots of Sinovac’s vaccine have been given worldwide, including in China.
A worker injects a foreign journalist with a dose of Sinopharm vaccine during a COVID-19 vaccination session for resident foreign journalists at a vaccination center in Beijing, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Chinese medical firm Sinovac said its COVID-19 vaccine is safe in children ages 3-17, based on preliminary data, and it has submitted the data to Chinese drug regulators. State-owned Sinopharm, who has two COVID-19 vaccines, is also investigating the effectiveness of its vaccines in children.
FILE – In this Feb. 25, 2021, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens as President Joe Biden speaks during an event to commemorate the 50 millionth COVID-19 shot in Washington. Fauci said Sunday, March 14, he wishes former President Donald Trump would use his popularity among Republicans to persuade his followers to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In a round of interviews on the morning news shows, Fauci lamented polling showing that Trump supporters are more likely to refuse to get vaccinated, saying politics needs to be separated from “commonsense, no-brainer” public health measures.
Medical Center Hospital auxiliary volunteers Gracie Sanchez, seated left, and Ann Ellison wave at passing health care workers as they work at Medical Center Hospital’s information desk, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in Odessa, Texas. In addition to wearing masks and remaining behind a plexiglass protective shield, the volunteers are required to have had a COVID-19 vaccine or be able to prove they have antibodies to the virus before returning to volunteer in person.
People pass the traditional Bavarian restaurant ‘Hackerbraeuhaus’ where a corona test center now works for SARS CoV-2 rapid tests downtown in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
Members of NHS staff hold flowers as they gather for a minute of silence and reflection at St Thomas’ hospital in London, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. A year to the day since Prime Minister Boris Johnson first put the country under lockdown to slow the fast-spreading coronavirus, a national day of reflection is being organized to remember the people who died after contracting COVID-19.
French President Emmanuel Macron visits a pharmacy in Valenciennes, northern France, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients.
A member of NHS staff lays flowers under the Mary Seacole statue after a minute of silence and reflection at St Thomas’ hospital in London, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The U.K. has a lot to reflect on a year after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson first announced that the country would go into lockdown to slow the fast-spreading coronavirus. A national day of reflection taking place on Tuesday will remember more than 126,000 people who died after contracting the virus.
French President Emmanuel Macron talks to a man after he received a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the vaccination center of Valenciennes, northern France, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients.
A COVID-19 vaccine is administered as Kane County opened its first COVID-19 mass vaccination site in Batavia, Ill., on Friday, March 19, 2021.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — People who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks at work in Anchorage when they are in their own workspace away from the public and unvaccinated colleagues, under an updated emergency order that took effect Tuesday.
The order was signed Tuesday by Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson. Her office, in a release, called the update an easing of an existing mask mandate “that balances vaccination progress in Anchorage with the importance of masks in reducing transmission of COVID-19.”
Under the order, employers would have to verify an employee’s vaccination status, “in a manner consistent with workplace anti-discrimination laws.”
Masks still are required in Anchorage in indoor public settings and communal spaces outside the home and at outdoor public gatherings.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider a person fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of a two-dose vaccine or two weeks after receiving a one-dose vaccine.
In the Anchorage area, 27% of those 16 or older are considered fully vaccinated, information provided by the state health department shows.
VACCINES: More than 82.7 million people, or 24.9% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 44.9 million people, or 13.5% of the population, have completed their vaccination.
