OKLAHOMA CITY – An executive order that bans state agencies from mandating masks or imposing vaccine requirements for people entering their buildings went into effect Tuesday, June 1.
Gov. Kevin Stitt issued the order May 28 – the same day he signed into law a bill that prohibits state schools and colleges from adopting mask mandates or vaccination requirements.
The executive order decrees that “all buildings and office space, owned or leased by the State of Oklahoma and open to the public, shall rescind any mandate for the wearing of masks in order to receive government services.”
The order also provides that “all state agencies are hereby prohibited from requiring a vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of admittance to any public building.”
However, Stitt stipulated that his order “shall not apply to employees and buildings of state agencies primarily involved in medical patient-facing activities including research participant areas and facilities where patient care is the primary function.”
He noted that order doesn’t prevent anyone from wearing a mask in a state or public building.
For more than a year the coronavirus pandemic “has affected the lives” of all Oklahomans, Stitt wrote in a statement that accompanied his order. “…[O]ur state is now in a position where every Oklahoman who wants a vaccine has had the ability to undergo a complete cycle.”
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate approximately 41% of Oklahoma’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and nearly 34% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated.
“It is time to return to normal,” Stitt asserted, adding that “the standard for normal is freedom.”
In a related matter, the governor signed Senate Bill 658, which bars state schools and institutions of higher education from adopting mask mandates or vaccination requirements. The new law went into effect immediately with Stitt’s signature.
The measure prohibits any school district, state college or university or Career Tech center, or the State Board of Education, from requiring a vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition of admittance to or attendance at the school or institution. The bill also prohibits schools from requiring a vaccine passport or imposing a mask mandate for students who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
The new law also provides that a board of education for a school district or technology school district may implement a mandate to wear a mask or any other medical device only after consultation with the local county health department or city-county health department.
Such a mandate must explicitly list the reasons for the mandate and shall reference the specific masks or medical devices that would meet the requirements of the mandate. Any mandate to wear a mask or any other medical device must be reconsidered at each regularly scheduled board meeting.
“Taking the COVID-19 vaccine is a personal choice,” Stitt tweeted on Twitter. “I’ve signed SB 658 to ensure that students can go to school without that choice being made for them.”