California will soon drop its requirement for attendees to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter indoor mega events.
The new rules will go into effect on April 1 when the state requirement will turn into a strong recommendation, according to the California Department of Public Health.
An indoor mega event is any gathering of 1,000 people or more.
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Counties will now have to decide whether to align with the state guidance or keep their own local verification mandate.
Now that the California Health Department is making this move, UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told NBC Bay Area Friday that he’s not surprised.
"We’ve seen restrictions dropping like flies even in conservative mitigation areas," he said.
Chin-Hong said a move like this is safe for the Bay Area because a large number of people are vaccinated and boosted.
“If you’re in San Francisco for example, it's very low in the order of 20 cases per 100,000 over the last week," he said.
Chin-Hong said it's relaxing the proof of vaccination order is in line with the state’s decision to drop the mask mandate indoors.
“So, you take the good times when you have them hunker down a little bit when you don’t have them but we’re never going back to lockdown periods anymore," Chin-Hong said.
For more information, visit cdph.ca.gov.
