Reported By: Nathaniel Dulla
With the COVID-19 vaccine mandate lifted on Guam, restaurants, bars, gyms, and public events will no longer require people to present proof of vaccination. According to Guam COVID-19 vaccine tracker on the data news-leader website in February 2022, more than 95% of the island’s residents are fully vaccinated; about 134,754 age-eligible Guam residents.
With the decline of coronavirus cases in several places in the United States, government officials have re-evaluated the mask mandate. Following this, many students in the U.S. no longer wear face masks in class or on school grounds.
Due to the release of new information about the coronavirus and decline in positive cases, the University of Guam started offering more face-to-face and hybrid classes. They are also aiming to transition into having a majority of face-to-face classes in the semesters to come. For workers, students, and guests at the university, social distancing and mask wearing is still required on campus.
Angelica Pangelinan, a current college student, expresses her thoughts on the mask mandate.
“If the mask mandate is ever lifted, I wouldn’t mind the idea of having students choose whether or not they want to wear a mask, considering the amount of people vaccinated and the availability of vaccinations,” states Pangelinan.
Pangelinan attends face-to-face classes and has received her COVID-19 vaccination. When asked about mask-wearing on campus and in the classroom, she shares her thoughts on the matter.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing students walk around campus or in the classroom without masks.”
Outside of campus, the mask mandate has been lifted in the Andersen Air Force Base. It was effective immediately on March 3rd, 2022, allowing federal employees to choose whether or not they wear a mask on the base. However once these employees go out of the Air Force Base grounds then they will need to follow the local government mask mandate.
Recently Guam has gone from a high risk of getting COVID-19 to a medium risk level according to the Center of Disease control and Prevention community guidelines. This is a step towards lifting the mask mandate on the island.
University of Guam is slowly getting back to normal with a number of hybrid and fully face-to-face classes and some students walking and hanging around. How do you feel about the mask mandate being lifted?
