As you may know, today, June 15th, marks California's "Grand Reopening" from COVID-19 activity restrictions. Part of the state's reopening is a major adjustment to the mask mandate. As of today, fully vaccinated individuals will no longer be required by law to wear masks or face coverings in most businesses. The Co-op has been following the State of California's health regulations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will continue to do so. That's right:
As of June 15th, individuals who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 will not have to wear masks while shopping at the Co-op.
Shoppers who are not fully vaccinated are still expected to wear masks while shopping at the Co-op.
The California Occupational Health and Safety Administration (CalOSHA) currently requires all employees who work indoors and may be around unvaccinated individuals to wear masks while on the job. Therefore, you will notice that all Co-op employees will continue to wear masks while working for the time being. This not a reflection of the vaccinated status (or lack thereof) of anyone on our staff—it is a CalOSHA regulatory requirement.
We acknowledge that vaccination is a personal decision, and we respect the rights of others to make informed choices for themselves and their families. Please note that the changed California regulations, which we are following, are only effective for fully vaccinated individuals. It is important during this transition that we all respect the privacy of our Co-op community by:
not asking people if they have been vaccinated
not assuming that if someone is wearing a mask they are not vaccinated
not pressuring people you see at the Co-op to get vaccinated, or to disparage them for their vaccinated status (whatever it may be).
We know that this is a change that may bring up a variety of different feelings for different people. We want to remind everyone that the Co-op still offers a free, fully-featured Curbside Pickup program at our website.
Thank you for your cooperation throughout all of this. The last year and a half have been full of unexpected occurrences. We truly appreciate everyone working together.