Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday that the city’s indoor mask mandate and COVID-19 vaccination requirement for certain businesses will be scrapped effective Feb. 28. Lightfoot told reporters at a news conference that mask-wearing will still be enforced in the city’s public transit system, health care settings such as hospitals and nursing homes, and congregate settings, such as prisons and jails. Illinois’s statewide mask mandate is also set to be lifted on Monday. “In order to continue maintaining our progress with this pandemic, it’s vital that we must continue to work together to increase vaccination rates in every age category across every demographic,” Lightfoot said. “But in the meantime, it’s important for us to recognize this moment for what it is: a huge step forward in our effort to overcome COVID-19. We would not have been in a position, even a few weeks ago, to this kind of announcement today.” …