This deal was a win-win and should have been a no-brainer for the city. The vaccines are a much, much more effective and enduring anti-coronavirus measure than the masks are. Getting people vaccinated is the whole point: No one should want to wear masks forever. If business owners would rather require vaccination than masks, then the government should absolutely let them do that.

So of course, the city said no.

“I asked about the fitness coalition’s request for a waiver from mask mandate if they go vaccine only,” Christina Henderson, a member of the city council, said in a tweet. “DC Health is not granting waivers at the moment. I asked what metrics we need to meet to rescind the mask mandate. They are hesitant to tie to any particular metric.”