Maui Mayor Mike Victorino has walked back his requirement for COVID-19 booster shots to be fully vaccinated in order to dine inside a bar or restaurant or exercise in a gym.

Starting today, the requirement will be changed to a recommendation for boosters.

The reason given in a news release Friday was the “steady downward trend in new COVID-19 infections has also lowered demand for Maui County healthcare facilities.”

Most restaurant and bar owners were against the move to require boosters, saying that it unfairly targeted their industry over others. However, patrons of these establishments do not keep their masks on while inside. Rather they are removed in order to consume drinks and food, and therefore, the risk of transmission would seem to be far greater than in other types of businesses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends booster shots for those 12 and older five months after the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna vaccinations, and two months after the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.