PHOENIX — Phoenix city council voted Wednesday afternoon to end its mask mandate for fully vaccinated people.
The announcement means that fully vaccinated people no longer have to wear a mask in public spaces in Arizona's most populous city.
Individual businesses can still require masks on their private property, although many nationwide chains have dropped their own mask requirements.
Masks are also still required at the airport and public transportation.
Phoenix is keeping the mask mandate inside city buildings for now.
The Centers for Disease Control updated its guidelines on mask use on May 13 to say that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face-covering in most indoor situations.
Being fully vaccinated is defined as people who have received both doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccine or Johnson & Johnson's single-dose shot.
People who have only been partially vaccinated or not at all are still asked to wear masks.
Masks have always been cited by doctors as an effective method of limiting the spread of COVID-19, which is primarily spread through coughs and sneezes.
Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego announced in April that face coverings would still be required in public areas across the city.
That move came in defiance of Gov. Doug Ducey who lifted COVID-19 safety measures across the state weeks before.
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