Pennsylvania is keeping its mask mandate until 70% of adults are vaccinated, governor says

• Pennsylvania's governor said the state's mask mandate wouldn't be lifted until 70% of its adults were vaccinated against COVID-19.
• Gov. Tom Wolf said, however, that the state would lift other restrictions on May 31.
• At least 50.6% of Pennsylvania's adult population has received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Pennsylvania will keep a mask mandate in place until 70% of the state's population of residents 18 years old and older are vaccinated against COVID-19, Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement on the state's website.

The state is, however, planning to lift most of its other COVID-19 restrictions on May 31, Wolf said. The statement did not detail exactly which restrictions would be lifted.

Pennsylvania has seen more than 1.1 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, and more than 26,000 people in the state have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins.

Pennsylvania officials said on Tuesday that 50.6% of the population had received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

"I encourage Pennsylvanians to take the critical steps needed to put this pandemic behind us by getting vaccinated, follow through with both doses if you receive the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, and continue to take steps like masking, frequent hand washing and sanitizing and social distancing," Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam said in the statement.