Summit County residents can now go maskless in most settings, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.

On Saturday morning, the county officially adopted the state’s latest public health order, tweaking only one of its measures.

The state’s order says fully vaccinated individuals can go without a face covering in any setting unless a business or organization requires it. It’s still recommended unvaccinated individuals wear a mask but this is no longer required. Individuals ages 11 or older who are not vaccinated are encouraged to wear a mask in public settings, but are not required to do so.

Children younger than 11 are not required to wear a face mask under the state’s order, but the county amends this detail. The county orders that those ages 2 and older must wear masks in schools and child care centers, as well as in indoor camps and recreation leagues. Though fully vaccinated individuals, including vaccinated children ages 16 to 18, may remove masks in a school setting if the teacher or caregiver is vaccinated.

Unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated individuals 11 and older must also wear a mask in Colorado Division of Motor Vehicle offices, in congregate care facilities like nursing facilities and assisted living residences, in prisons and jails and in emergency medical and other health care settings.

Masks no longer need to be worn in everyday situations and settings, including restaurants, shops and stores and fitness areas.

However, in both the state and county’s order, owners, operators and managers can continue to require individuals to wear masks or show proof of vaccination. This goes the same for school districts. Individuals can also choose to continue wearing a mask for their own safety.

“We are no longer in the acute response to the pandemic and that is something we should celebrate,” said Summit County Public Health Director Amy Wineland in the county’s news release. “We now have a high level of protection for our community through the availability of the vaccine and our local vaccination rate of 61%. And importantly, our health care system is not being impacted.

“Individuals can protect themselves by getting the vaccine, and can certainly continue to wear masks in public places if they feel more comfortable doing so.”

Summit County Manager Scott Vargo said county officials feel confident in this move because of the vaccination rates.

“We’ve tried to follow the data and the science from the beginning of this pandemic, and obviously more and more information has become available throughout the course of the events and most recently the use of vaccinations,” Vargo said. “That’s really what’s allowing this reopening to take place, and we feel really good about it here locally because our vaccination rates are so high. It doesn’t mean we’re going to stop trying to get folks vaccinated.”

As of Saturday, May 15, the county’s vaccination rate was at 61.4% and its incidence rate was 29.1 cases per 100,000 people. About 73.7% of the county’s population has received one dose of the vaccine.

The state’s order is in effect until June 1 and the county’s order is in effect until June 4. Around this time, Vargo said the county would reconvene to discuss next steps.

“We’ll be revisiting it right around that time to see if there’s anywhere or any situations where we want to maintain any sort of mask requirements or see what the state does in regards to any changes to their order at that time,” Vargo said.

For more information about the state’s new public health order, visit SummitCountyCo.gov.