Fully vaccinated New Yorkers can finally say goodbye to their masks starting on Wednesday.

This announcement came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued their new guidance last week that fully vaccinated adults can go without a mask indoors.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he expects not everyone will be ready to toss off their mask right away.

“I expect there are going to be a lot of people who are not going to flip the switch and be over this,” Cuomo said. “I think there's going to be lingering concern, etc. So I think you're going to see a lot of people still wearing masks going forward, but it is up to the private vendor and private venue.”

There will be exceptions to these new relaxations. Masks will still be required in schools, health care settings, homeless shelers and when riding public transit.

The announcement came after a bipartisan group of county executives called for Cuomo to lift the mask mandate. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said he believes the state is ready.  

“It’s time,” McCoy said. “People's mental health, seeing around the country they're opening up in Florida, Texas, Georgia. They see what's going on and that just causes more animosity. We need to start healing.”

This guidance also means that mask enforcement will fall on businesses and venues, which can also require people show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. This can be through their physical vaccine card or the Excelsior Pass app.

Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen said this new guidance is encouraging, but voiced some concern over taking off a mask indoors when it is unclear if everyone is vaccinated.

“I think that for now, I would recommend people to continue wearing masks, unless they are in situations where they know everyone is fully vaccinated,” Dr. Whalen said. “But I do think it signals a transition and it's a transition that we're all very eager to make. It is a transition, most importantly, that signals that we're getting closer to the finish line.”

The mask mandate will be lifted the same day that capacity restrictions will be lifted for bars and restaurants.

Now with New York on its way to becoming fully reopened, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro said it is time for the state of emergency to also be lifted.

“I think that we are past the time that the state of New York should be functioning in a state of emergency,” Molinaro said. “And like Democrats and Republicans across the state, I think that that restoring the state local balance is necessary now. We are no longer in a state of emergency.”

The governor of Massachusetts, for example, announced they will be lifting the state of emergency in June, since most mask and COVID-19 restrictions will have been lifted by then.