After more than a year of wearing masks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance that said, in effect, vaccinated Americans no longer have to wear masks in the vast majority of situations, including indoor gatherings with many people.
Taking off the mask in public is easier said than done for many Concord residents, though.
Jackie Wengenroth said even though she was standing outside in downtown Concord, far from other people, it felt strange to go maskless. Despite the new guidance, she said her family still plans to wear masks in most public indoor situations.
“We are kind of in like a weird transitional time,” she said. “Eventually, things are gonna go back to normal, but we still feel really comfortable wearing masks.”
Jan Moodie, who considers herself a “very senior” resident of Concord, said for the time being, she’ll carry a mask in her pocket just in case. She’s not in a rush to ditch the mask she sewed from dainty floral fabric.
“Frankly, it’s a puzzle,” she said. “I don’t know which way I feel safer.”
While the decision to mask up or go bare-faced is largely up to Granite Staters now, businesses are grappling with how to adjust the mask policies they’ve enforced for months.
Michael Cohen, the owner of Pitchfork Records, said he hasn’t decided what to do when the city’s mask ordinance expires on June 1. If he stop requiring masks to be worn in the store, he worries how the dynamic between customers will change.
“I feel safe but I don’t know about the people that come in who are not vaccinated,” he said. “How are people going to feel if they’re wearing masks and there are people who are not wearing masks? I don’t want those divisions in my store.”
Already, on Friday morning, a customer came in to the downtown music store without a mask, citing the new CDC guidelines, he said.
For now, local merchants must still follow the city’s mask mandate, which is still in effect until the end of the month and requires residents to wear masks inside businesses and city buildings. However, the State House is exempt from the rule. City officials could extend the ordinance again, or allow it to lapse, which means store owners will have to make their own decisions.
David Elliott, the owner of A Jeweler’s Workshop, said he’ll address the issue on a person-to-person basis. If a customer says they’re vaccinated, he said they’re welcome inside without a mask. Otherwise, he’ll request that they keep wearing masks.
“If you don’t want to get vaccinated, that’s fine. It’s a free country,” he said. “But if you’re infecting someone else, that’s an issue.”
He and his wife have been fully vaccinated for months but still don’t want to run the small risk of getting sick by inviting an unvaccinated customer without a mask into their store.
At the Viking House gift shop, manager/buyer Emily Galvin said the mask requirement will stay in place a little while longer. She sees the CDC’s new guidelines as a sign things are returning to normal, though.
“I’m excited that we’re moving forward,” she said. “It’s going to be nice to see everything opening up again.”
Florist Brad Towne, an owner of Cobblestone Design Company, said he’s okay with loosening the mask requirement in his business – he and most of his employees are vaccinated. It’s his customers who will bear the onus of mask decision-making.
“I think it’s going to be uncomfortable for people,” he said. “They don’t know if anybody else is (vaccinated). That’s the only thing. I think that’s just a normal growing pain of the situation.”
Editor’s note: This story have been changed to reflect that Emily Galvin is the manager/buyer at Viking House. Her title was incorrect.