NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell is bringing back an indoor mask mandate for the city and requiring city employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

Cantrell's Friday evening announcement came after Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards stopped short of ordering a statewide mask mandate.

However, Edwards held out the possibility he will do so on Monday.

Edwards and Louisiana's health officer say vaccinations and masks are both needed to slow what one Louisiana hospital official calls an “accelerating” rate of new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are on pace to set a record in the state next week.

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

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