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This is good news. Now maybe Fauci should rethink his idea that people need to wear their masks for another year even after getting vaccinated. One of his rea
by ta8645 6y ago
This is good news. Now maybe Fauci should rethink his idea that people need to wear their masks for another year even after getting vaccinated. One of his reasons was because of worry about the variants.
- halfmatthalfcat 6y agoWearing masks have benefits beyond covid. Think about how many lives per year we could save from the flu let alone other airborne respiratory viruses if mask wearing was normalized.
- JasonFruit 6y agoWearing foam rubber padding all the time has benefits, but that doesn't mean everyone should do it. There are other considerations beyond mere safety.
- ghaff 6y agoOr at least bike helmets all the time. Lots of people get seriously injured or killed because of falling and hitting their head. I expect mask wearing will be more common in cultures where it was almost unheard of like western Europe and the US. But even in a country like Japan where it wasn't unusual, it certainly wasn't anything like the norm.
- brandon272 6y agoWearing a mask is a lot more convenient than foam rubber padding.
- mrfusion 6y agoI’ve heard it argued that our immune systems need exposure to germs to keep them effective.
- bluGill 6y agoI've heard that too. But never does anyone back it up with anything that could be remotely called good science.
- jimbob45 6y agoAgreed. I think of the 5+ times I’ve gotten sick from planes and airports and I kick myself for not having worn masks during air travel in years past.
- ghaff 6y agoYou probably need everyone else wearing masks to have a big effect and that's not likely to be the case going forward although you can obviously take whatever precautions you like.
- postalrat 6y agoJust think of how many lives will be saved if people never leave their homes.
- halfmatthalfcat 6y agoAmazing how insecure people get when you suggest a simple gesture that would ultimately better society. Mask wearing is normalized in the East, why not in the West? Is it because "mah freedoms?" Grow up.
- postalrat 6y agoDid you just reply to the wrong comment? I didn't say anything about masks.
- halfmatthalfcat 6y agoYour comment wasn't constructive and at worst, sounded like you were making light of mask wearing by suggesting we should just never leave our houses. Of course if everyone was confined to their houses, there would be less sickness but nobody is debating that. We're debating the normalization of mask wearing.
- postalrat 6y agoIt sounds like your concern is masks, not saving lives. Because if you care more about saving lives you will realize people only need to stay home. Fewer fatal accidents, infections, and other disturbances if people just never ventured outside their homes.
- halfmatthalfcat 6y agoI'm not sure what kind of strange reality you're speaking from but it's not one that currently exists.
- dboreham 6y agoIt has been both enlightening and pleasant to not have caught any symptom-causing diseases in the past 12 months. Unknown whether mask wearing played a part of course.
- brandon272 6y agoIt’s bizarre to me that so many people seem to equate not having to wear a mask as the ultimate return to normal. Mask wearing is probably the least invasive, least inconveniencing thing that we have been asked to do throughout this pandemic, yet half the population acts as if it is the equivalent to being handcuffed to a steel post in their basement. If health officials said “after being vaccinated, do whatever you want, please just wear a mask for the next year and wash your hands while we monitor efficacy”, that would be a success story with respect to returning to normal, to me at least.
- Mediterraneo10 6y agoSome countries have mandated that masks be worn even outdoors and even when there is no one around. This has been the case in Poland and Romania for many months, for instance. The Polish health minister openly stated there is little scientific basis for this, he just thinks it is more likely that citizens will have their masks on when entering shops or meeting people if they have to wear it at all times. Think about how much it sucks if you are a glasses wearer and your glasses are fogging up all the time (you can't even see the traffic lights when you want to safely cross the street), or how much it sucks to cycle long distances with this thing on your face. I think a lot of Europeans would readily accept wearing a mask in shops for the next year. But yes, getting rid of this outdoor mask requirement would be a big relief and major return to normal.
- Fomite 6y agoIn my mind, as an epidemiologist, discontinuing mask wearing should be the absolute last thing we discontinue.
- IfOnlyYouKnew 6y agoHe's mostly just managing expectations. One problem starting to trouble public health professionals is the wish of vaccinated people to ditch masks even before enough people are vaccinated to reach herd immunity: since it is not easily visible if someone is vaccinated (and even then...) the appearance of more and more unmasked people in stores etc. could lead to a breakdown in adherence. There will come a time, in early summer for the US, late summer for most of Europe, when it'll be safe to take of the mask. Until then, it's a minor annoyance.
- dboreham 6y agoAlso people lie about things such as whether they're vaccinated.