When Can We Accompany Our Pets Into Ethos Hospitals Again?
May 18, 2021
UPDATE: May 2021: Our Mask Guidelines Have Not Changed
Our teams are regularly asked about when we will update the mask and visiting policies at Ethos Veterinary Health. As of now, the policy around wearing masks at any Ethos Veterinary Health hospital has not changed, regardless of vaccination status. We are continuing to require the use of masks by all team members and clients for all interactions.
We acknowledge that the CDC updated their mask recommendations last week for individuals who have completed their vaccination schedule for COVID-19. The recommendations state that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, or local rules and regulations, or in cases where businesses have specific workplace rules or guidance.
We understand that our decision to continue to enforce the mask mandate may cause some confusion, and that some individuals will seek to stop wearing masks in many settings. Adding to the uncertainty, individual states and cities have also chosen to continue to enforce mask requirements despite the new CDC guidelines.
The safety of our clients and our teams continues to be our main priority at Ethos. On a positive note, we are currently in the process of developing plans to allow us to safely reopen, and we will provide an update on our reopening plans in the middle of June.
April 2021: The health and well-being of our clients and teams remains our top priority
We have been receiving questions about when pet owners will be allowed to accompany their pets into our hospitals again, especially now, as more people are getting vaccinated. We wanted to take a moment to recognize that this is a real concern for many of you, and explain our reasons for continuing to provide curbside services.
The health and well-being of our clients and teams remains our top priority, as it has been since the beginning of the pandemic. We continue to follow CDC guidelines to ensure everyone’s safety. According to the CDC “we are still learning how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19”. The CDC recommends that after someone has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, they should keep taking precautions in public places like wearing a mask, staying six feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces until we know more. For more information, visit the CDC website.
In addition, while our teams are performing services designated as essential, they have not received priority vaccination status in all of the geographic locations in which we work, this means that while some of our clients are vaccinated, not all of our team members have been vaccinated yet.
We are constantly assessing our processes and workflows, taking requirements for social distancing, maximum capacity limits and other local guidelines into account. This will ensure that we can keep our clients and team members safe and continue to provide the care our patients need.
We are looking forward to the opportunity to welcome our clients back into our hospitals and continue to actively plan for this transition as soon as we feel that it is safe. We are managing our planning in one-month horizons and will provide additional updates on our status in early May.