Thursday night so many of us were shocked to hear that the CDC had dropped their mask requirement for fully vaccinated people in public places. The announcement was so abrupt that the White House was scrambling to issue a response. CDC Director Dr. Walensky assured us that the science was there to support the fact that fully vaccinated people are safe to go maskless. We’ve since heard that several high profile people, including nine members of the Yankees’ staff and Bill Maher, have tested positive for covid despite being fully vaccinated. All had no symptoms or only mild symptoms, meaning the vaccines work as intended I guess. I still would not want to get even mild covid. It seems like not enough is known about the long term effects Now that the CDC is dropping mask requirements for vaccinated people, so have many states including Virginia where Kaiser and I live (not together). More than that, nationwide retails are dropping mask requirements for those who are vaccinated, including Costco, Walmart, Starbucks and Trader Joes. They will still adhere to local and state mandates, meaning if the mask restrictions have not been lifted in their area masks are still required for entry.
In separate announcements, Walmart, Costco and Starbucks said that masks will be optional for guests amid new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
On Friday, Walmart announced in a letter that “vaccinated customers and members are welcome to shop without a mask.” Unvaccinated shoppers, however, are asked to keep wearing masks in stores.
Similarly, employees who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to work without masks as of May 18, the letter added, also noting that “masks will also continue to be required by some city and state ordinances, and we will follow those requirements.”
At Costco locations across the nation, customers who have been vaccinated can shop without masks where there are no state or local mask mandates. However, customers will still have to wear face coverings in Costco’s pharmacy and other healthcare settings.
“We will allow members and guests who are fully vaccinated to enter Costco without a face mask or face shield,” the company said in a release on their website. “We will not require proof of vaccination, but we ask for members’ responsible and respectful cooperation with this revised policy.”
There’s more in that article about the other retailers lifting mask requirements based on the honor system, including Trader Joes and Publix. I feel for workers at those places. It’s easy enough for shoppers to wear masks and avoid unmasked people, but the people who work there have to deal with so much. I hope that retail workers can continue to wear masks if they choose and that no employers force them to go maskless. A union for grocery store workers, United Food and Commercial Workers International, has issued a statement calling the new CDC guidelines “confusing” and saying it “fails to consider how it will impact essential workers who face frequent exposure to individuals who are not vaccinated and refuse to wear masks.”
As far as these specific retailers, Costco and Walmart seem relatively safe for shoppers as they’re large stores with good ventilation. Trader Joes and Starbucks can get crowded, and I would not want to go into one of those anytime soon. Yes I am vaccinated and I still wear a mask, but I’m just not comfortable being around unmasked people in small places. The vibe at the grocery store and at the one very large indoor place I went to this weekend was different than before though. Most people were still wearing masks and it’s like everyone can relax because we’re not “required” to wear them. We can tell ourselves that the people whose faces we see are vaccinated. I know that’s not true where I live though. The people who are vaccinated are the ones who are still wearing masks and most of the people who aren’t are the ones who never wore one in the first place.
Photos credit: Getty and Uriel Mont, Laura James and Anderson Miranda on Pexels
I think it’s going to take me a good while to get over the anxiety of coronavirus to even want to take my mask off in public.
I was in a Starbucks yesterday for the first time in a long time. Several people were maskless as well as one of the servers. I kept mine on even though I’m vaccinated. I’m not ready to remove it yet, and I don’t see the need/point. I’m used to it anyway.
In Costco yesterday in Maryland and everyone was wearing a mask? Same for Target.
I see Britain is having second thoughts after the Indian variants is spreading in certain places
“The people who are vaccinated are the ones who are still wearing masks and most of the people who aren’t are the ones who never wore one in the first place.”
This is it in a nutshell. CDC seems to have forgotten that kids under 12 are NOT vaccinated and will be exposed to all these “honor”less anti-vaxxer-MAGAts.
I’m with you, Ann. I’ve been vaxxed since March, and will continue to wear mine indoors and in crowded situations out of concern and respect for those who can’t vax.
I truly don’t understand WHY there can’t be a kiosk at the front of each store/building to scan your vaccine “passport”. You get vaxxed, you get in. It is NOT your “right” to get into a sports arena, movie theater, concert, etc. That’s a privilege of being part of a community, taking part in these things. You don’t want to be part of the community? Great. Stay home and don’t infect the rest of us, or go to your own local events with other un-vaxxed idiots. The only scary thing about this is that there will be all those red “pockets” of the un-vaxxed who will host and mutate the virus, which can then spread to the rest of the country/world. Scary sh%t to think about.
@(The OG) Jan90067 Totally agree with you re: “I truly don’t understand WHY there can’t be a kiosk at the front of each store/building to scan your vaccine “passport”. You get vaxxed, you get in. It is NOT your “right” to get into a sports arena, movie theater, concert, etc. That’s a privilege of being part of a community, taking part in these things. You don’t want to be part of the community? Great. Stay home and don’t infect the rest of us…”
My anxiety is now through the roof, just when the weather finally got warm, my vaccination had passed two weeks and I thought about maybe starting to get outside again.
@Anna, the *good* thing is you *CAN* go outside, masked or unmasked. For my comfort zone, I will be masked outdoors if I’m going to be near a lot of people, or have to pass through a crowd. I will ALWAYS keep my mask on indoors. No question. While *I* may be protected, I feel it my responsibility to help protect others until we reach enough of a herd immunity to protect kids and other vulnerable people.
When I had my first venture out, about 3 or 4 wks. post 2nd shot, I went out to lunch and I was VERY nervous. Even though it was outdoors, it felt *very* scary to be around others w/out my mask on, and to see others, laughing and talking maskless. After a few more times it became a little easier, and if I’m walking down the street, and no one is walking near me, I’ll take my mask off one ear, but it’s ready to pull up when needed.
It will be scary, but life IS for the living. WE choose to do it responsibly and with care and consideration of others. Start taking baby steps. You’ll do great! Hugs! <3
Same, Lily. Same. What pisses me off is that, now, they are shaming the maskers for continuing to wear masks. I am a Pfizer girl and will continue to mask up around strangers. What I’m not going to do is trust the honor of some of these people out here.
You can’t trust the honor of people that have *no* honor.
This is such a bad idea…
Agreed. Bad idea. I’m wearing a mask and had both shots.
I feel like the CDC pulled the rug out from under all of us who have been doing the right things for the past 14 months.
@Mac That’s exactly what they did.
@Mac That’s exactly what they did.
I know of two close friends who were vaccinated early this year and tested positive for COVID a few weeks ago. This is a bad idea and heaven help us. We are the test subjects with the virus.
Exactly, Seraphina.
State health depts are not testing for variants in breakthrough infections.
We don’t yet know if these are due to expected breakthrough rates or if they represent variants which may evade vaccine(s).
These CDC recommendations are irresponsible at best and will also be exploited by the unvaccinated who generally refuse to wear masks, but occasionally comply in stores which require masking.
I know. I think that the CDC is playing Russian roulette with everyone’s health. We already had a problem with people following the simply task of wearing a mask and now they are trusting the same people, who are probably not vaccinated, to behave on their own merits? Who are they kidding? I am glad that Target will still require masks and I hope others follow suit. Its much too early to rely on some people to respond based on the code of honour, as some of them have none. We only have, I believe a rate of 36 percent, which is a fraction of herd immunity.
Agreed. Can’t imagine working for one of these companies and having 100s of people come through maskless everyday and having to trust that they are all vaccinated. Spoiler alert- they won’t be. The guideline should have been something more like “If you are a fully vaccinated adult and want to have friends or family over that you know are also fully vaccinated, you can skip the mask”. This whole idea of trusting that maskless strangers are vaccinated seems insane.
I think this is TERRIBLE. It’s still unclear how much vaccinated people can SPREAD covid, and what about all the employees with children too young to be vaccinated? Or the single parents who have to take their kids into the store? I have a high risk toddler, and if I worked at a Trader Joe’s I’d have to quit my job for my kid’s safety. That’s a ghastly position to put parents in, all because the stores are tired of anti-maskers having tantrums.
I agree, especially since children are not protected yet. I think they should have given it another month at allow more people time to get both shots. I don’t understand the big rush all of a sudden??
I’m going to keep wearing my mask in public for the time being. I don’t trust these unmasked Mofos yet. Also, I like having my face hidden. Maybe by the end of the summer I’ll stop wearing my mask, but for now, we’re nowhere near herd immunity.
Fashion designer Alber Elbaz, best known as head designer of Lanvin for years, just died of COVID. He was fully vaccinated.
I know some newspapers reported that but he was in the hospital with COVID for three weeks before his death, and that timeframe is before the vaccine was available to people in his age group. ???
I could find very little about whether he was vaccinated, only this. I do hope it’s true that he was infected BEFORE the vax!
———————————
Some sources, including the Times Of Israel, have reported that Elbaz died after contracting the South African variant of Covid after he had been vaccinated.
However, there’s no evidence for this claim.
But there’s no evidence to suggest that Alber Elbaz had been vaccinated.
Sources say he had been ill with Covid for three weeks before his death – which was before the vaccine was available to his age range in the country.
This was a terrible decision. I understand the science supports vaccinated people being safe without masks. However, we all know as you say, the ones going maskless are largely going to be the ones who are not vaccinated, never will be vaccinated, and only wore masks when pinned to the wall all along.
Children under 12 cannot be vaccinated yet, and won’t be for some time. What of them? Oh, only a few will die? Is this the calculation we are making? What about children with cancer, they can’t go out their doors now? What about adults who are badly immunocompromised and still at risk even when vaccinated?
This was a huge misstep, just my opinion.
I don’t get initiatives like this. How can you trust non vaccinated people to wear masks when they haven’t been wanting to wear them till now? This will just favor new clusters and a brand new mess for health care professionals.
Exactly! What exactly about Americans made the CDC think that the honor system will work. Has it ever worked on a large scale in America? Those poor front line essential personnel including grocery store worker who don’t get hazard pay anymore.
Besides, I can make faces and mutter to myself under my breath at all the idiots in public without anyone knowing. That’s another benefit of continuing to wear the mask, besides the health/safety benefits.
That’s one of the reasons I will continue to mask up in public. I can’t trust my face not to show my annoyance with people.
Same.
Why? In Europe we’re keeping the masks though even being vaccinated… The Indian variant is out there and no vaccine is effective against that one…
Are you sure? In the UK we’re hearing that although this variant is more transmissible the early data shows existing vaccines are still effective.
I’m not sure of anything…
What I know is that in Portugal, our minister of health continues to say that even after vaccination we should continue to wear masks in certain contexts… Only after having 70% of the populatiion vaccinated (immunity herd) can we truly easen the measures…
The Indian variant is more transmissible, but the vaccines are still very effective against it. Research shows that the Indian variant is circulating more in the younger population that hasn’t been vaccinated in the UK rather than the adult more vaccinated population.
This seems so messy.
Plus while the data is showing that vaccination does absolutely slow the spread you can still be infected and in turn infect others when you are vaccinated.
Plus where does this leave those who can’t be vaccinated (for legitimate reasons)? I mean from a risk of infection perspective, not being able to go around maskless.
VA here. I was told ours was as well. And from the looks of it yes it was. People walking around without a mask and and they were so proud to take it off. People celebrating as if they were emancipated. Meanwhile I talked to a friend who works for the state that monitors COVID. They are gearing up for a rough summer: people not wearing masks, some vaccinated and others are not and then all the misinformation. I will continue to wear my mask.
Ca still has a mask mandate, thank goodness.
I mentioned to a friend the other day that even though I’m vaccinated, I still live my life as if I wasn’t. He admonished me for it. But I’m not comfortable going maskless just yet. Also, I remember in the beginning of the panini, the CDC said that we didn’t have to wear masks, so yeah, I don’t necessarily take their word as gospel.
The non-mask people always use that as their argument, that the CDC said masks weren’t necessary, but you have to look at what else was going on at that time. First and foremost, the Trump administration was in charge and did not want/ would not let the CDC make it a requirement. Second, there were no masks! We were reusing masks and all PPE at work because there weren’t enough for healthcare workers, let alone the general public. Look what happened with toilet paper when people thought they’d run out! Now imagine if the CDC said wear a mask and there were no masks. I’m not saying the CDC got everything right or is getting the mask-relaxation right even now, I’m just saying I get why they couldn’t tell people to wear a mask as soon as they probably should have said it.
Yes, I am quite aware of why they told us not to wear. I was merely pointing out that the cdc doesn’t always get it right. Anyways, if people are comfortable going maskless, then that’s their decision. We have a mask mandate here, but even before the cdc said it was ok to go maskless and before vaccines were widely available, people were were going maskless anyways.
The CDC has lost my trust. I’m keeping my mask on. I think this was meant to be an incentive to vaccinate, but as mentioned above, the antivaxxers/anti maskers are the ones who will go maskless.
@Zaya – I was watching a Padres game last night and everybody behind home plate was maskless. I thought CA still had a mandate??
Yeah, no thanks! I’m in Alabama, and the faces I see at stores are the same ones I’ve been seeing for a while: too much of an a*hole to follow mask mandates and probably too stupid to get vaxed. This would have been just in time for my school’s graduation ceremony had my President not declared it virtual months ago. There was loud pushback from a few, but all of my colleagues are grateful.
and too brainwashed by FauxSpews and Bible Thumpers (‘Bama here too). To clarify, I’m a Christian but I don’t buy into all the conspiracy theories.
This was a terrible decision and one that relies on the honor system in a nation that has many people who would easily lie about being vaccinated.
On Saturday I went to the Container Store and to a plant nursery. At both places every single person was masked, and the nursery is outdoors! I was really happy to see it.
Honor system in a nation with no honor.
I’m going around in circles with myself on this, trying to convince myself that I am fully vaccinated so I don’t need to be afraid any more. From what I’ve read, everybody who is still getting sick enough to be hospitalized did not receive the vaccine and everybody everywhere (without whatever medical conditions) is eligible to receive it for free. If the non-vaccinated people want to keep owning the libs, well, we’re all gonna be vaccinated so y’all are gonna be the only ones at risk so knock yourselves out. On the other hand, what about mutations/variants? I’m not going to wear a mask for the rest of my life, so there has to be the starting point where I don’t wear it, but… is it now? I work in surgery so I’ve always had to wear a mask at work, and I expect my hospital to keep the overall mask requirements for now. I will continue to respect the requirements wherever I go, but eventually yes, I will rip the mask/bandaid off. Probably not today, though…
I feel the same!
Oh hell no, mask stays on. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that Americans cannot be trusted. If I’m being too careful, awesome for me – I don’t think you can be too careful if you have the means and ability. I’m lucky to be in an area where there are plenty of like minded people – the neighborhood grocery store had a new LARGE sign this weekend that said “NO MASK, NO SERVICE” which I very much appreciate (they previously had a smaller sign that just said “Masks Required”)
“If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that American cannot be trusted”
Sadly, this is true. And this is why we need to keep our masks on.
Yeah, who thinks Americans won’t lie about being vaccinated? Really….
Exactly
Did you see the video of Ricky Schroeder harassing an employee at Costco in Cali because he didn’t want to wear a mask in spite of them informing him they were adhering to local mandates. Schroeder went on to add that he wants everyone to boycott Costco. Such a jerk. I live in Florida, think I trust these trumpers to do the right thing? Never. I’m vaccinated and still wearing a mask and avoiding public places with lots of people. ,
Yeah I saw it. He looks like he started crying at one point. These people are truly whacked. I just want them away from me.
Best twitter post to the incident: “It’s RIDICULOUS how many grown ass people whimper over putting a freaking mask on like they’re trying to force a watermelon up your butt for pity sake!”
I’m not ready to take the mask off yet even though I’m fully vaccinated. I know of at least two people who have gotten Covid while vaccinated. I worry for my 5 and 6 year old who obviously aren’t vaccinated yet.
I’m in Maryland and our Republican governor just lifted mandates. Don’t care. I’m also fully vaccinated. Will continue to wear my mask when I’m out shopping, etc. I don’t trust these other people.
I was disgusted seeing a story the QAnon kookies tweeting they “identified as vaccinated” I mean really?
While nature will take it’s course for those. How a simple shot that’s just a protein turned into a political circus is depressing. I’m in NY the mask is staying on and I am fully vaxxed.
omg they are so gross.
I haven’t trusted the CDC since May 2020 and once I saw what they were doing with their school recommendations in July/August it is dead and buried. My family still wore masks when out in public and we will continue to do so. I will continue to practice social distancing because I never liked how socially acceptable it was for people to be so close and in their personal space anyway. I hate having nasty strangers in my space 🤷🏽♀️. My state, NC is acting like everything is all good now and I am tired of fighting with 8th graders to keep their masks on. We do not receive any additional support because of the “kids MUST be in the school building physically to learn” crowd and mindset that is pervasive even with our current Sect of Education. The stress from dealing with the Covid restrictions in a school setting when no one is backing you up is astronomical. In my area, adults have been “protesting” the mask mandate and not wearing one anyway so this does nothing to incentivize them. Even though Target still has their mask policy, I saw a man walk rudely by a salesperson with a box of masks. He acted so offended and gruff with the poor salesperson. I felt bad for the salesperson because they are just doing their job. SMH
Okay so I said on Friday that I was seeing my mom this weekend and I would ask her, lol (she years in vaccine research at NIAID.) She took the pandemic very seriously (didnt leave her house for months, etc) and is fully vaccinated.
Basically her thing is that she’s wearing masks when she feels uncomfortable, but she has loosened up a lot. We ate indoors at a restaurant on Friday, which she only started doing in the past few weeks. We went to my kids sporting events and she didnt wear a mask while sitting (outside), but she wore one at the farmer’s market (more crowded and people were closer to each other.) She says she would go without if she was at the grocery store and there was no one else around her, but she would put it back on while checking out.
Right now my concern is that I don’t want someone to have to ask me to mask up, so I’m erring on the side of wearing my mask, but I have stopped wearing it outdoors for the most part.
I don’t get this fixation people have about not wearing masks. Masks didn’t shut down the country. Masks didn’t shut down restaurants, schools, offices, museums, theaters, the entire travel industry, or make thousands and thousands of businesses go under. Masks didn’t keep people from seeing friends and family for over a year. And now that everything is opening up all over the country, nobody is saying, “No, you can’t go here or there,” they’re saying “Yes, go wherever you like (with some exceptions), just wear a mask.”
If MORE people had been willing to wear masks, the country would have opened back up sooner.
What a bad idea – an honor system in a country where millions have proudly shown they have no honor. This will end poorly.
This is stupid because we’re opening Pandora’s Box. God forbid this allows variants to spread more easily and we have more breakthrough cases, guess what? Can’t ask everyone to mask up again! That’s done now. They’ve enabled the anti-vax, anti-mask people to lie and I fear it will cause so much damage.
The largest nurses union in the US condemned the CDC for doing this and I fully agree with them. Too much, too soon for a safety measure that wasn’t a big freaking deal to begin with.
Where I live (central rural-suburban Texas) we suddenly went from about one hundred percent mask wearing to about twenty five percent. Now I HOPE to God that means everybody is vaccinated except 25% but….somehow I doubt it’s that high. Once you drop mask mandates that means everybody thinks it applies to them, vaccinated or not.
Who wants to gate-keep mask wearing at these stores? I wouldn’t. People have been killed or beaten for asking others to wear a mask. It’s insane. And we all know who is to blame. The former guy who actually got his vaccines on the down low and did not promote them to his maggots.
I’m in NY state and glad that we still have mask mandates for businesses. It’s going to take me awhile to feel comfortable unmasked. I’m headed back to work tomorrow after being off since last June. I’m going from remote a few hours a week to 3 full days and see that a fellow employee tested positive last week. Vaccinations are not required, but the masking and social distancing regulations are strong so I’m trying to stay positive.
One amazing thing about my job site is that we have serious mitigations in place. It seriously shocked me when going instead of a casual dining restaurant, how many people were either not wearing their mask or wearing it wrong. When I asked my hubby about it, he said that his job (he’s in food service), operated the same way. That it was difficult to wear the mask and do the strenuous activities with poor ventilation and no AC. It was so eye-opening and shocking because it made me glad that my job took, at least the regular, protocall aspects seriously.
People lie. This is a terrible idea.
I don’t understand how you can force people go maskless? We couldn’t even force people to mask up?? If someone wants to stay safe, if not from COVID, then from colds and such, why not let them?
Really, Trader Joe’s? Where you wouldn’t let more than a handful of people in to shop for months and had long outside lines to get in; suddenly, you’re fine with maskless people?
The only place I’ll go maskless is on my tiny island after I have quarantined and been tested twice. And I am not lifting those guidelines at the compound any time soon, either (I’m the resident physician there)
it must be nice to be on an island
I cannot wait to finalize my retirement from mainland life.
I disagree that the vibe was better this weekend. it felt more dangerous because me and my vaccinated friends assumed everyone we saw without a mask was an emboldened unvaccinated capital stormer.
Yeah, the CDC advice is science-based in only the most short-term, immediate sense. It feels a bit like testing a new drug that helps slow cancer growth, seeing results in 2 months, and approving it for immediate use. Only you realize in a year that there’s some terrible side effect that causes death or debilitating illness.
I’m fully vaccinated and have enjoyed not being in my open office, wearing masks in public and avoiding the constant cold cycle (2 young kids who have been mostly home until January). I’ll keep wearing masks for the foreseeable future.
“It feels a bit like testing a new drug that helps slow cancer growth, seeing results in 2 months, and approving it for immediate use. Only you realize in a year that there’s some terrible side effect that causes death or debilitating illness.” — sounds like you are describing the vaccine.
The COVID-19 vaccines have undergone extensive clinical testing and are safe.
I was at Trader Joe’s yesterday and every single person–staff and customers–was wearing a mask. They were still limiting how many people could shop and enforcing social distancing in the check-out lines. I did not see any signs about masks being required, so it seemed to be an unspoken agreement among everyone to do the right thing. So, don’t rule out Trader Joe’s!
I was there yesterday as well and only 1 person that I saw wasn’t wearing a mask. His wife/partner was wearing one. All employees were wearing one. I was at Safeway and same deal; only 1 person wasn’t wearing one that I noticed.
My mask with be on for the foreseeable future. When I’m outdoors and walking around town it’s on as well. The only time it’s on but dropped down is if I’m out walking and see no one near me. As soon as I see someone, up it goes. I think it was Bill Maher who is the latest celeb who received the vaccine but now has Covid. I even saw on a Reddit post yesterday how the vast majority of nurses think this is terrible move. I just feel like this is going to backfire. New strains, folks who lie about being vaccinated, kids who can’t get vaccinated yet being around maskless people, and so on. Yeah, it’ll be awhile before I’m comfortable being without a mask around the general public.
I’m Canadian and I’ve just been eligible to book for my vaccine. I’m really excited! My brother is getting is the day before mine, and then he’s coming with me to mine to hold my hand.
Our public health orders in BC are a lot different than the US, so our mask requirements are probably going to be set in place for awhile.. even for fully vaccinated people. I’m ok with it for the most part… the other part of me hates it because I just want to see people’s smiling faces again.
I’ve had both shots but I’m going to continue to wear the mask. If I’m outside and no one is around I’ll take it down but it has to stay up around others and in shared areas indoors. I am not comfortable yet eating indoors at a restaurant or going to a movie but in time that will change.
The reason being is the CDC’s behavior last year, the fact that the virus is still here and it’s feeling like a repeat of stupidity from 1919. They dropped their guard and their masks and the flu got the last laugh. We are still dealing with the descendant variants from the 1918-1920 global flu pandemic.
I’m vaccinated too, but my youngest isn’t yet, and I’m simply not ready to completely shed my mask. Also, they haven’t even mentioned hand washing. Outdoors, sure, but in crowded indoor spaces, no way. Makes me anxious and the last thing I want is to get a cold. I’m never giving up my mask on flights or public transportation.
Many people have said that Dr Walensky is good at her job; however, the decisions she has made thus far are more in line to what Fox News and it’s hosts want rather than the safety of the people. Every decision she has made, follows a few days after Fox runs a story on it. She lifted the mask mandate for outdoors after Tucker told people to report parents who made their kids wear masks outdoors. I wish that the press would stop claiming that the numbers are dropping. States have stopped testing for Covid because they are more concerned with vaccinations numbers now.
My major concern is that these decisions by the CDC are because Dr Redfield is still indirectly controlling the CDC or that the CDC is heavily populated by a group that supports Redfield and Trump. Biden’s administration is still heavily populated by people who Trump appointed.
The CDC truly jumped the gun with their messaging on this one.
The only people who are masking up post full vaccination are those of us who did so prior to vaccination. That’s pretty much a given for predictive behavioral observation. That said, the “science” on this is still uncertain. The UK is already sounding the alarm due to the variant from India. The W.H.O. has officially announced that these variants from places such as India, Brazil, and Africa, are, indeed, the second wave. Place those variants in with the variables necessary for the second wave, and that’s the real “science”.
We’re far from safe as of now. That was always to be expected due to the fact that this pandemic was egregiously poorly handled at its introduction point. This isn’t a new prediction nor is it one that is going to be easy peasy to deal with. For sure it’s far from what was going on last winter/spring, however, we will be effected by it this summer.
So now, once we get into that real second wave, here in the states and Europe? Forget it. No way are MAGAs going to consider a vaccine, which is what this entire narrative is hinging upon: people will eagerly get vaccinated in hopes of continuing to run around, maskless, just “safer” maskless.
The CDC can most likely predict that most of us who wore/wear masks pre and post vax, will be better off regardless, but this underscores that the messaging should have focused more on the oncoming variants and the vaccine efficacy, rather than mentioning masks at all. Even their own “science” supports this narrative rather than the mask narrative.
I live in Germany and not yet 40% of all adults have had their first jab. Even those who are fully vaccinated (that is, 2 weeks after the second dose) or have had Covid and are considered immune (for up to six months after the first positive test) are required to continue wearing masks in public, and I think it’s a good idea. So many people want to get vaccinated and feel safer but can’t due to lack of vaccines or because they are in a lower priorisation level and can’t get an appointment yet. Rubbing it in by not wearing a mask is not a good idea in the current social climate, and for all we know some variants might not hold up fully to the protection provided by the jab.
For me, wearing a mask in public is the least of my worries and I will happily do so for as long as I feel comfortable.
I’m gonna get yelled at for what I’m about to say but I’m gonna say it anyway. I stayed home as much as possible when it was really bad, wore my mask, etc etc. I live in Florida and tons of people have been going around unmasked. So now that I’m vaccinated, I’m not wearing my mask. They say they want to live life, it’s no big deal. Well ok then. I feel like let them live their life as they want. They didn’t care about us so I’m done taking precautions to help them. If an employee in a store asks me to wear a mask, I will. But everyone else who has decided they want to chance it, can do it. I’m done