Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Interim Superintendent Monifa B. McKnight and Dr. James Bridgers, Acting Health Officer, Montgomery County, will discuss important changes to guidelines for COVID-19 quarantines in MCPS schools.
An update on plans to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to 5- to 11-year-old children, when authorized in the coming days will also be discussed.
The Montgomery County Council will meet as the Board of Health on Tuesday, Nov. 2 to introduce, hold a public hearing and vote on an amended Board of Health regulation to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Montgomery County. The amended Board of Health regulation will be introduced at 9:40 a.m. and the public hearing and vote is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
The amended Board of Health regulation, sponsored by the Montgomery County Council, would require seven consecutive days of substantial COVID-19 transmission in the community for an indoor face covering requirement to be reinstated in areas open to the public. The requirement to wear face coverings in indoor spaces that are open to the public also terminates when the County returns to a status of moderate COVID-19 transmission for seven consecutive days.
Unless action is taken by the Board of Health to amend the regulation, the indoor mask mandate will resume on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
Article: Indoor Mask Mandate Will Be Back in Effect Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 3
Content verified October 29, 2021, courtesy of Montgomery County.
If you are eligible, you may choose any of the available COVID-19 vaccines as your booster. If you want a specific vaccine as your booster, check that your vaccination site has it available.
Just one day after the indoor mask requirement was lifted in Montgomery County, the “number of cases per 100,000 residents in the last 7 days” has reached 50 again, putting the county back in the “Substantial Transmission” threshold.
We spoke with Montgomery County’s Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, Earl Stoddard, who told us that “Board of Health Order 19-975 mandates that Dr. Bridgers, the acting Health Officer, provide official notice if the County proceeds into substantial transmission and set a timeline for the mask requirement.”
Effective Thursday, October 28 at 12:01 a.m., Montgomery County suspended its mandate requiring face coverings indoors in locations accessible to the public.
Despite this change, businesses and other organizations can continue to require customers or visitors to wear a mask in their establishments.
The indoor mask requirement will no longer be in effect in Montgomery at 12:01am Thursday morning, but the city of Takoma Park announced earlier this evening that it would continue with its mask mandate.
Takoma Park city manager Jamal T. Fox communicated the continuation of the policy via Twitter, writing that “Vaccines in children ages 5-11 will need time to take effect, plus CDC Guidelines & holidays are all reasons to take a healthy approach to stay the current course!”
GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 27, 2021/PRNewswire/ — Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced the completion of its rolling regulatory submission to the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The company’s application for Conditional Marketing Authorization (CMA) marks the first submission for authorization of a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom.
“This submission brings Novavax significantly closer to delivering millions of doses of the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, built on a proven, well-understood vaccine platform that demonstrated high efficacy against multiple strains of the coronavirus,” said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax. “We look forward to MHRA’s review and will be prepared to deliver vaccine doses following what we anticipate will be a positive decision. We thank the clinical trial participants and trial sites in the United Kingdom, as well as the U.K. Vaccines Taskforce, for their support and vital contributions to this program.”
MCPS has released a community message clarifying the status of indoor mask requirements in public schools.
Earlier today, it was announced that Montgomery County would be lifting its indoor mask requirement at 12:01am on Thursday, October 28th.
Per MCPS:
Dear Montgomery County Public Schools Community,
Effective Thursday, Oct. 28 at 12:01 a.m., Montgomery County will suspend its mandate requiring masks or face coverings indoors in locations accessible to the public.
Dr. James Bridgers, acting County health officer announced today that the County achieved seven consecutive days of moderate transmission of COVID-19.