ABSTRACT
On March 10, 2021, a new executive order to lift the mask mandate and allow businesses to open at 100 percent capacity, went into effect in the U.S. state of Texas. This was due to the decrease in the daily number of COVID-19 cases and deaths as the state continues to vaccinate the population. A simple compartmental model was used to assess the implications of the executive order on the ongoing vaccination program. Our simulation shows that approximately 51% of the entire population needs to be fully vaccinated to bring the control reproduction number to a value less than one (threshold condition needed for disease elimination) as compared to the 14.32% that has been fully vaccinated as of March 31, 2021. Hence, the need for an aggressive vaccination program if the state is to open businesses to full capacity and do not require the use of a face mask by the general public.
