How long will NC students wear masks in school? A few factors are at play.

After 15 months of statewide restrictions aimed to help North Carolina slow the spread of the coronavirus, nearly all of them are gone.

But the state is still under a state of emergency, and there is still a mask mandate indoors in certain situations, including schools.

Here’s where things stand and what Gov. Roy Cooper and public health officials are saying about how, and when, that might change.

Cooper’s current Executive Order 215 expires June 11, which is also the end of the school year for Wake County Schools, the largest school system in the state. The executive order includes a mask mandate for all school buildings.

More than half of the state is vaccinated — 53.4% of adults are fully vaccinated as of June 2 — but that number includes mostly adults. Children ages 12 to 15 were recently able to start receiving the Pfizer vaccination, but a vaccination has not been authorized for use yet for younger children.

“We continue to recognize that the vast majority of students are unvaccinated,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Wednesday at a news conference.

Cohen and Cooper’s news conference was the first time in over a year that their COVID-19 news briefings at the Emergency Operations Center were also available for press to attend in-person.

Recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance along with the data about vaccinations is why North Carolina leaders do not anticipate changing the mask mandate for K-12 students indoors yet, Cohen and Cooper said Wednesday.

“It was just a few weeks ago that we were able to get those who are 12 and above vaccinated, and we think that folks should go out as quickly as possible and make sure that you’re getting vaccinated,” Cohen said. “But the CDC continues to recommend that those who are unvaccinated ... wear a mask indoors.

“That includes the vast majority of our children who are in K-12 schools and that will continue until the guidance changes from the CDC,” Cohen said.

She said if the CDC changes its guidance this summer about masks and schools, then state health officials will reevaluate the executive orders.

State of Emergency

Executive orders for the pandemic response are issued under a state of emergency, which has continued for nearly 15 months. Cooper said he doesn’t anticipate that changing anytime soon.

“The state of emergency needs to continue,” Cooper said Wednesday. “We need to continue to draw down federal funds. We need to continue to do things to make sure that we get people vaccinated. We still have mask mandates in places that are recommended by the CDC.”

The governor said the pandemic was an “extraordinary event” that has required an extraordinary response. Cooper said North Carolina is still in the middle of it, with people dying of COVID-19 daily.

As of June 2, N.C. DHHS reported that there are 610 people in the hospital with COVID-19 and there were 265 new cases.

“There is more work to do to get us to the end of this,” he said.

But there is still vaccine hesitancy, Cohen said. That includes those who want the vaccine but have been unable to get it because of scheduling or access reasons. Some people still have questions about the vaccine, and then some don’t intend to get a vaccine at all, Cohen said.

“We’re hoping to make that group as small as possible,” Cohen said.

Cohen said she anticipates vaccine being available for children younger than 12 this fall.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Pandora, Spotify. Apple Podcasts. Stitcher. iHeartRadio. Amazon Music, Megaphone or wherever you get your podcasts.