End of COVID-19 national emergency lifts vaccination requirements, travel restrictions
As of this morning, the federal Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 is over.
The Department of Health and Human Services declared the emergency expired at midnight.
That means vaccination requirements for federal workers are lifted.
It also opens international travel in time for summer.
It also means we may see less masking, though some companies — like Allegheny Health Network and UPMC — already dropped their masking protocols.
The emergency declaration went into effect in March 2020 and was extended by President Biden when he took office.
The reason for the change is health leaders say COVID-19 weekly cases and hospitalizations are dropping drastically compared to previous years.
While it’s a significant change, health care professionals say COVID is still resulting in 11,000 deaths a week nationwide, so it’s important to stay vigilant.
The government will no longer provide free tests after May, except for people enrolled in some federal health programs. But the vaccine does remain free under the Affordable Care Act.
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