NBC Los Angeles reported that State officials announced Monday the indoor mask wearing requirement for vaccinated people will expire at the end of the day Feb. 15. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the move is the result of a 65% drop in the infection rate since the peak of the winter surge caused by the Omicron variant of COVID-19, as well as a stabilization in hospitalization numbers.

But “unvaccinated people will still need to wear masks indoors.” The mask-wearing requirement will also remain in effect for everyone in select indoor locations, such as public transit centers, airports, schools, emergency shelters, health care facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care and senior-care facilities.

However, in Los Angeles County, mask requirements will remain in effect for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people in indoor settings, as well as at large outdoor mega-events, such as Sunday’s Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium.

Last week, LA county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer unveiled metrics for a possible relaxing of the county’s masking orders, saying the mandate will be dropped at outdoor “mega-events” and outdoors at schools and child-care centers if COVID-positive hospitalizations in the county fall below 2,500 for seven consecutive days.

As of Monday, there were 2,773 COVID-positive patients in county hospitals.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is defending its mask-wearing order, which is being criticized after Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayors of L.A. and San Francisco were photographed without face coverings at Sunday’s NFL playoff game at SoFi Stadium.

Ferrer affirmed that requirement the Thursday before the championship, during a public health briefing. “There is a masking requirement even though it’s outdoors unless actively eating and drinking,” she said.

Representatives for Garcetti and Newsom said they removed their masks briefly to pose for the photos, but wore them the rest of the the game, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Sen. Melissa Menendez of California’s 28th District took to Twitter, saying of the photos, “Toddlers are being forced to wear masks all day long in school. Maybe one day they’ll be governor or the mayor of LA and they won’t have the follow the rules they impose on others.”

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco posted screenshots of the tweeted photos to his Facebook page. There, he called for an end to mask mandates and said “If there hasn’t been enough reminders, here is another as to why I won’t enforce mandates on residents of Riverside County.”

During cutaways of the action on the field, it was clear the mask requirement inside the stadium was not being enforced.