For Virginia's new House majority, masks and vaccines will be optional during session

As Virginia lawmakers prepare to reconvene in Richmond for the 2022 General Assembly session, a looming question has been how the process will run amid an ongoing COVID-19 surge.

For Republicans in the House of Delegates, who won control of the chamber in November’s elections, the answer is as close to business as usual as possible. While KN95 masks will be available at the State Capitol and Pocahontas Building — where committee rooms and legislative offices are housed — there will be no mandate for visitors or lawmakers. Vaccinations and boosters, too, will be optional, though they’re “strongly recommended” by Republican leadership, according to caucus spokesperson Garren Shipley.

“It’s not a mandate, but Todd has been pretty clear from the get-go — get your shots,” Shipley said, referring to Speaker-designee Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah. “I can say the uptake of the vaccine among the Republican caucus has been high.”

The noncompulsory protocols set the House at odds with Virginia’s Democrat-controlled Senate, which has yet to release its own detailed operating procedures. In a Friday statement, though, leaders supported masks and vaccine requirements for members and anyone in the Senate chamber.

Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2022/01/07/for-virginias-new-house-majority-masks-and-vaccines-will-be-optional-during-general-assembly-session/